A little secret
by lil sweetie
Summary: Kira's hiding one to many secrets in her life one including a baby. Will she snap or can she handle it? Read to find out. A REMAKE OF THE FIRST!
1. Austin

A little secret

Hey readers, sorry I had to delete the other story but I was reading it and I thought it needed some super re-doing. So I decided to re-write it. This one will go into more detail and I'm practicing what a wise reviewer once told me, "show don't tell" so here it is! Hope you guys like and as always reviews are greatly appreciated.

Disclaimer-I do not own power Rangers at all in any shape or form.

……………….

Kira sighed rolling over to face the clock on her nightstand after being woken up for the third time that night.

3:30 read the clock and she sighed leaving the warmness of her queen sized bed to tend to the noise maker.

Grumbling some Kira followed the trail of wails, down the short hallway of her small apartment to the room where the sleep breaking noise was coming from.

"Alright, alright, ¿que pasa? What's got you so railed up tonight huh?" she asked peeking in the crib to see her little bundle of joy laying in the crib wailing his eyes out; again for the evening.

She sighed picking him up and sitting in the rocking chair, trying to get him to go back to sleep. "What's gotten into you lately, you normally sleep through the whole night" she said to him while gently swaying the rocking chair back and forth but he kept at it.

Kira got up now, and peeked back into the crib to grab his favorite elephant toy. She didn't know why but one cuddle with this thing and he would fall right asleep. It was awkward but satisfied both him and her and that's the only reason she kept the ugly looking elephant around.

Upon coming in contact with the fuzzy elephant, the young baby calmed down and resorted to sniffles and sighs, while attempting to get back to sleep.

Kira however let go of a long cat yawn thinking of all the events that occurred today. She had a major test a school that she wasn't sure she passed, then she had to stop by the grocery store and go through the task of grocery shopping for her and the little one in her arms. She had to go to work which she always hated because her boss was the most complicated man to work with. Then after work Mesegog decided to throw one of his monsters into the city and therefore she spent her night battle some sort of evil fish monster along with her teammates. Then when she finally reached home tired and exhausted she had to finish her homework and tend to the wailing baby for the third time this night.

Sometimes Kira hated living this way. She just turned 18 a month ago and yet she lived on her own with a baby on the house. 18 year olds weren't supposed to be doing this; 18 year old were supposed to be preparing for college and dating and become independent and all that good young adult stuff.

But instead Kira was stuck living on her own; on her own after her parents, her own flesh and blood kicked her out of the house. She wasn't surprised though, her parents were not the brightest of people. If they were they would have realized their drinking problem ages ago and done something about it but they didn't and one night after coming home from doing God knows what, they were again drunk and it came across their minds to just kick their daughter out of their home.

Kira didn't put up a fight like she normally did with her parents but instead just decided to leave. She hated when they drank and she was sick and tired of them chastising her and using her for their dirty work and all of the above. She was basically glad to leave and voluntarily packed up her things and left.

She stayed at her friends house for a couple of nights with no explanation as to why she was kicked out in the first place and soon enough Kira was able to find an apartment. Although seventeen at the time, she was able to wing her way into an apartment since she personally knew the apartment building owner.

So she moved in. And no more than 2 weeks of settling her self in, the new member of her household arrived.

Austin Elijah Ford.

He was one of those babies that was left in a basket by an anonymous source with a note attached to his little blanket that read, "Please take good care of him".

Until the day that Austin arrived Kira had no idea that people did such things, she thought it was only in the movies.

But just as she was about to send him to the adoption agency, Kira stopped herself. She began to worry about what kind of parents he'd get, or what the kids would treat him like. What if he wound up getting parents just like hers? She couldn't let that happen, she had to keep him.

Or at least that was the story se kept telling herself the first couple of weeks of him staying with her. Truth was she actually felt connected to the baby. Like it was her duty to take care of him. Her destiny, her mission, her something. She didn't know but she knew that if she let him go she'd fell empty. She didn't question it, she just did it, like her ranger duty. Some message or sign, or pathway told her that she must look after this baby and she did. And when she finally turned 18, she went to the adoption agency and adopted him as her own, all the while telling no one of her little secret.

Austin, like her ranger duty was her little secret and he'd stay that way. Other than her parents (who found out and claimed they didn't care) and his babysitter, nobody knew about Austin. Not her teammates, not Haley, not even Dr. Oliver. Nobody knew about him and nobody was going to know about him. She couldn't take the stress of people knowing and treating her different or rumors floating around school, or worse Dr. Oliver and Haley trying to con her out of "making a huge mistake". It was just too much to handle at the moment and she didn't need it. She knew was she was doing and that's all there is to it. Nobody was going to change her mind.

Kira looked back down at the baby and smiled as he was back to his peaceful sleeping stage. She carefully got out of the rocking chair and set him back into the crib along with the ugly elephant. "Good night Austin" she said before heading back to her own room for a good nights rest.

…………….

The next morning, Kira at her table that was shared with Trent and was beginning to doze off again in another one of her teacher/mentors science lectures. This unit was human science and currently he was talking about the 10 systems of the body. She didn't find this to be boring but she was so darn tired she couldn't keep her head up.

Trent nudged her again trying to keep her awake and out of trouble and at this movement Kira sat upright, gazing at the teacher as if she was paying attention.

"Are you ok?" Trent whispered.

"Ya why?" she whispered back.

"Because you keep falling asleep over there, what's up?" he asked.

"Nothing don't worry about it" she said focusing back on her teacher's lecture.

Unfortunately for her though, 10 more minutes back into the lecture and she was dozing off again. And this time, Trent couldn't save her because Tommy caught her and Trent just couldn't nudge in time.

"So in conclusion the Respiratory system goes through Respiration which is what, Kira?" he asked emphasizing on Kira.

Upon hearing her name, Kira snapped her head up and looked up at her teacher unsure of what the question was. She didn't want to embarrass herself and have the whole class laugh at her so she remained silent and Tommy took the hint moving on to the next person.

"Can some one help her out please?" he asked and a couple of students raised their hands. "Leila" Tommy called on one of the grade 9 honor students who of course had to give a perfect answer.

"The process in which we exchange gases with our environment Dr. Oliver." She said with a smile.

"Thank you Leila"

RING RING RING

"_Oh thank goodness saved by the bell."_ Kira thought packing up her things as well as the other students did ready to move on to the next class.

"Don't forget class, homework is section 9-2 and 9-3 reviews, write out the questions and answers." He said as the class groaned while filing out.

"Kira could I talk to you for a minute" he said to the teen who was packing up her things rather slowly. A routine habit for her, Conner, Ethan and Trent only because their teacher often called them back after class.

"OOOO, Kira's in trouble" Conner teased and she only glared at him.

"Guys, I only need to talk to Kira today so please head to your next class" Tommy said.

"Well jeez Dr. O, if you don't want us around all you have to say so" Conner said pretending to sound offended.

"Bye you three" Tommy said and the three boys left chuckling out the door.

As soon as they left Kira turned to face her teacher. "You needed something Dr O?" she asked fiddling with a little beanie baby power ranger doll on his desk. Funny story where that thing came from. Last Christmas the team was actually surprised to see little power ranger toys and such on the market and they all agreed that the fandom was getting out of hand. But when Christmas rolled around Ethan decided to give one to his teacher as a gag gift and eventually Tommy wound up collecting the whole team and displaying them on his desk.

"Kira are you alright?" he asked.

Kira couldn't help but roll her eyes. This became a constant question with him now a days when she had to work long nights. Normally when she was dozing off in class he pulled her back after or talked to her later about it. She could understand his concern, after all she was supposed to be fully awake and having undiverted attention during class but the whole thing just seemed to get annoying. Shouldn't he get the point by now, when she had to work long nights, which was usually when there was a monster attack, she was tired the next morning. Why keep asking if she was ok?

"I'm fine Dr. O" she replied dryly. "And don't ask me if I'm sure, I'm positive" she added quickly knowing his next question.

Tommy sighed. "I'm sorry Kira it's just that your always dozing off in class or after school at training or at Haley's cyberspace or where ever. Aren't you getting enough sleep at night?" he asked.

"_No"_ she sarcastically thought although it was true. "I'm fine, just overly tired, I had loads of homework last night." She said telling the partial truth.

"Kira you always have loads of homework, that's the same excuse you use every time I ask you about this." He said.

"Maybe I'm just a studyholic" she replied.

"Kira"

"Dr. O, I'm fine, stop worrying, sheesh, you know you cause your own gray hairs. Don't stress about it. Now I gotta go, I'm going to be late for my next class." She said before exiting and not giving her teacher a chance to reply.

Tommy only sighed looking at the little mirror also placed on his desk. "I do not have gray hairs" he said to himself briefly checking his short locks for any signs of grey.

…………………

Ok that's the first revised chapter! Review and tell me what you think!


	2. Busy things

A little Secret ch 2

Yay the next chapter!

…………..

That day after school, Kira praised the Lord when the school bell rang dismissing her from her 7th hour class.

The teacher reminded them about their homework and of course the students bombarded the hallways anyway ready to get a jumpstart on their afternoon of freedom.

Kira sighed as she thought about not going home or to Haley's cyberspace as most teens were but off to work it was for her and she despised her job with a passion. Working at the Reef side version of Hooters was not her dream job but it was all that she could get that paid the bills.

First off she hated her uniform, which consisted of a white cut off shirt clinging to her chest area and skin tight blue jean Capri's that girls would die to fit into. And day by day the restaurant was filled with men that couldn't keep their grimy little hands off of her and the other waitresses. On top of all that, her boss was a pain to deal with. He was constantly hitting on her and she always refused the dirty old man which caused him to get angry with her and send her to dish duty; even though he wound up hitting on her the next day.

The only reason Kira clung to this job was because the pay was good and she needed it really bad. The rent in her apartment was $300 a month plus she had clothes and groceries to buy. As a matter of fact, if Kira wasn't receiving money from her Aunt (who happened to be wealthy) on a monthly basis for college, Kira would be on a _really_ tight budget. But thanks to her Aunt and her degrading job, budget was average.

Just as she packed up the last of her things Ethan joined her side all ready to go and walk with her to her car.

"Hey Kira"

"Hey Ethan" she said with a smile. It was good to share 7th hour with Ethan. He made computer tech class a breeze.

"You wanna head over to Haley's Cyberspace?"

"Sorry Ethan I can't, I have a truckload of things to do" she said.

"You always have a truckload of things to do, what's up?" he asked as they walked out of the classroom.

"Nothing's up, I'm just…..super busy"

"Like I said before you're _always_ super busy. What do you do in all this "busy" time anyway? You have a double life or something?"

"No I just have things to do." She answered.

"Ok, whatever you say Kira" he said with a sigh.

This was getting old. Since the beginning of senior year something's been going on with Kira that none of the team could figure out. She's always "super busy" and falling asleep in class and can't do anything with them on the weekends and stuff because of her tight schedule. The problem was, none of them knew what the schedule was. They all knew she was hiding something but what? What could it possibly be? Whatever it was she sure did a good job at hiding it because not even Haley could figure it out. They were all concerned and they all wanted answers and soon.

………………

8:30 p.m and Kira was just walking through the door of her apartment baby Austin in hand.

"Oh man buddy I'm beat" she said but the young baby only bounced up and down in his mother's arms as a response. He sure was wide awake tonight and it was going to take a big bottle of warm milk to calm him down.

She sighed tossing the keys on the counter and setting her book bag down. If only the baby sitter hadn't given him dessert, it would have made her night a lot easier. "_Old people"_ she thought. "_Can never listen to directions properly"_

"Alright bubba, what do you say to a bath?" she asked and again he bounced as a response.

She smiled. Despite how bad her days were Austin always managed to make her smile. He loved being in his mommy's arms and didn't like to really be in the arms of others. (Which made it hard for the babysitter)

Austin was an average sized 7 month old, not chubby, not skinny, just average. His dark brown hair lightly tanned skin and chocolate brown eyes made him look to be of the Latin culture which Kira found to be ok with her herself being from Argentina. ( I know she's not really but I'm altering it some). Most of the time when she took him to the park ladies would always stop by to oodle him and say how adorable he was and Kira knew it was true.

She walked into the nursery, grabbing a fresh diaper, some pajamas and his baby towel then headed for the bathroom.

Now came time for the worst. Kira didn't know what it was but Austin,_ hated_ to be changed. The second he was set onto the changing table on came the wails and the tears. There were only a few rare times when he was actually quiet while getting his diaper changed but other than that he was a bawling machine.

Kira set him down on the changing table first stripping him of his clothes and he didn't make a peep. But the moment she laid him down to peel off the diaper he let go of those cries.

"Alright, alright, calm down buddy, it's only a diaper change." She said taking off the diaper and wiping him clean as fast she could so he'd stop.

Once that was accomplished she picked him up and he immediately stopped giving off a few sniffles of sympathy.

"Oh stop the tears. No ma′s. (no more) You know good and well that didn't hurt you at all." She said and he only gave her a blank stare leaning his head on her shoulder.

"Oh you know how to butter me up don't you?" she cooed filling the tub with warm water.

After setting him in,Austin began his daily game of splashing in the water, and chewing on the bath toys. No matter what Kira did she could get him to stop and for this reason she stopped giving him bubble baths to prevent soap from entering his mouth and eyes. As little Austin banged his fists into the water, Kira's cell phone began to go off.

She sighed reaching into her back pocket and flipping open the phone pressing the talk button.

"Hello?" she said now pressing speaker and setting it on the counter before it dropped in the tub and electrocuted her baby.

"Hola chica¿Que lo que?"(hey girl what's up?) came the voice of Conner through the receiver.

"Hey Conner, what's up?"

"Um nothing much just called to see what you were up to." He said.

"Conner you never call to see what I am up to, what do you want?" she asked getting up and digging in the cupboard for Austin's baby wash.

"Seriously Kira, I just called to see what's up……………and to ask if you knew what Dr. O's assignment is" he added after a pause and Kira laughed.

"Why don't you just call Dr. O and ask him." She said grabbing the rag and adding some soap to it.

"Because the last time I did that he gave this speech on why I should pay attention." He said and Kira laughed again.

"It was lessons 9-2 and 9-3 section reviews." She replied.

"Oh that's it? Wow for once it isn't a lot."

"I know, I think it's because we're busy with Mesegog though, he normally does that."

"True, hey do we have to right out the questions and answers too?" he asked.

"Ya"

"Crap. Why do teachers make us do that anyway?"

"Beats me"

Just then there conversation was interrupted byAustin letting off a playful squeal and banging his fists in the water again while smiling up at his mother.

Kira sighed taking one of his hands in hers to begin his bath.

"What was that?" Conner asked.

"……..Oh…..um….nothing, it was just my um……..cousin. Ya my baby cousin I'm giving him a bath." She fumbled thinking of a quick excuse to tell him.

"So that's what you do in all your "busy time"? You baby-sit?" he asked.

"Sort of" she half lied. "Look Conner I gotta go, I sort of got my hands full." She said wanting to end this "why are you so busy" conversation before it went any further.

"Well ok, I have to get started on Dr. O's homework anyways."

"Alright, see you tomorrow" she said.

"Peace" he responded and with that the line went dead.

Kira reached over and closed the phone ending the call then turning her attention back to Austin. "Almost got caught there buddy" she said and he only gave her a one toothed grin.

……………….

11:30 and Kira finally managed to climb into bed. After putting her son to sleep, finishing her homework, fixing up the house a little, she was finally able to get a solid, 6 and a half hour sleep before she had to get up again.

She yawned while snuggling up beneath her pillows and sheets getting rather comfortable. "Tomorrow I wake up a new." She said before falling asleep.

…………………….

And wake up a new she did. Kira awoke in a cheery mood rather than a tired one the next morning. She went through all her daily routines and droppedAustin off at the babysitter's before heading to school. She even had time to stop at the local coffee shop for a latté which made her morning even better.

Once she reached the school campus Kira looked at her watch seeing she had a good 15 minutes before the warning bell was going to ring. Seeing her three male teammates sitting at a table on the school lawn she decided to join them.

"Hey guys" she said setting her messenger bag down and sitting between Conner and Ethan.

"Bien alguien es hoy muy feliz." Trent commented and Kira just smiled.

"What did you just say?" Ethan asked.

"He said, 'Someone is really cheery today'" Conner translated. "And I agree someone finally woke up on the right side of the bed."

"Sure did"

"Well that's good to hear, so you gonna come with us to Haley's after school?" Ethan asked.

"Sorry boys I can't I have stuff to do." She apologized knowing the conversation was coming.

"Not you and this "stuff" thing again. C'mon Kira it's Friday" Trent said.

"I know but, that still doesn't change the fact that I'm busy" she said and the three boys sighed.

"¿Y no puede quitarse un fin de semana usted?"(And you can't take one weekend off?) Trent asked and Kira shrugged nodding a no.

"Pero usted nunca gasta tiempo con nosotros" Conner said with a puppy dog face. (But you never spend any time with us.)

"Arrepentido pero puedo no. Yo le veré luego voy a la clase ahora" (I'm sorry guys but I can't. I'll see you later, I'm going to class now.) Kira said with a sigh quick to escape the conversation. She hated when her friends badgered her about her after school plans. It was times like this she wished she could tell them that she had a son and a job and was living on her own but she couldn't. It would most likely make her life even more stressful.

Grabbing her bag from off the table, Kira gave the boys one final look apologetic look before heading off to class.

"You guys, it's times like this that I _really _need to enroll in Spanish class." Ethan said and the other two chuckled.

…………………………..

Well that's the end of Chapter two, and I know nothing much exciting in this chapter. I promise the next ones will be longer. By the way as you have read I have made a few changes to the characters back rounds. I know in essence they aren't actually Spanish but I thought it would be interesting to make them that way. Sorry if you don't like it but I like the idea so I'm sticking to it for this story. Anyways, Review!


	3. A bad day

A little Secret ch 3

……………….

By the end of the day, Kira was not a happy camper. Sure she woke up fine this morning and her day seemed to be sailing smoothly after that. She was paying attention in class, taking good notes, had no intention of falling asleep. But when lunch time rolled around, Kira got two dreaded calls.

The first wasn't so bad. It was the babysitter calling to inform her that while crawling on the floor, Austin tried to reach something shiny under the coffee table and bumped his head on the rim, leaving a little knot on his for head. That she could take care of when she got home but her next phone call was one she didn't want.

She got a call from work. That stupid imitation Hooters. It was one of her co-workers, Shelly, telling her that she had to work a double shift tonight because the a new manager was working there and already fired 3 of the waitresses. Thereby resulting in Kira taking one of the fired girls' shift. Not to say that she wasn't happy about the manager being replaced, this finally meant no more of that dirty old man trying to hit on her. But this new manager sounded like a tough cookie. He already fired 3 waitresses on his first day! And he was making her do a double shift without even meeting her! Kira could tell that she was not going to like this new manager and her days at that job were just going to get worse.

………………..

After the school bell rang, Kira jetted out of school without even a so much of a goodbye to her friends and headed to work. She didn't want to be a minute late with this new boss of hers. Although she hated her job, Kira couldn't take the risk of being fired, the money was too good.

Parking in the back, Kira grabbed her uniform from the back seat and struggled a bit to change in the tiny Volkswagen Beetle but finally managed and walked into the restaurant and clocked in. She sighed as she looked at the clock. She wasn't early but she was on time, 3:00 on the dot.

Just as she was scanning the area for any signs of a new boss man, another co-worker of hers, Melinda walked by, balancing two trays of hot wings.

"Hey Kira, can you help me with one of these?" she asked.

"Sure" Kira said taking one of the trays from her.

She followed Melinda to whatever table she was serving, still scanning for that boss man. She didn't know what he looked like but the managers' were supposed to wear a green button down shirt so she figured any man in green might be him.

As Kira set the platter of wings down on the table, she didn't even notice the four filthy men, staring down her shirt and Melinda had to give her a little nudge to pay attention.

"Huh?" she said snapping out of her scanning and looking at the men at the table. One of which winked at her. Kira only rolled her eyes before heading back to the kitchen area with Melinda.

"So looking for the boss man huh?" Melinda asked now picking up about 4 plates of food and balancing them on her hands.

"How'd you know?" Kira asked. Had she really been that obvious in her searching?

"Because we all wee like that when we came into work today, looking around for that famous button down green shirt." She explained.

"Oh, so what does he look like?" she asked hoping Melinda caught a peek of him already.

"If you ask me I think he's drop dead gorgeous, almost like that John Hues actor guy." She said and Kira rolled her eyes. Leave it to Melinda to think that the new boss was cute.

"Melly…." Kira said and she only laughed.

"Anyway it's pointless to look for him because he's in his office." She said

"Oh"

"But, he does want all employees to check in with him so he can "get to know you" if you haven't already." She added.

"Oh great" Kira said with a sigh.

Melinda only laughed. "Good luck!" she said before going to serve the next table.

Kira rolled her eyes for the second time in the passed 5 minutes and made her way over to the boss' office.

She gulped suddenly becoming a little scared. What if this guy was a complete jerk? What if his sole mission was to fire her? She couldn't take the chance of being fired, she needed the money. He already fired 3 waitresses, what if she was next? What if he was just like the last boss? She couldn't take it, there were to many what if's!

"_Enough Kira! Stop this! Just knock on the stupid door and get this over with!"_ she angrily thought to herself.

Taking in a deep breath Kira gave a meek knock on the door waiting for a reply. She stood there for about 15 seconds before a reply was heard. "Come in"

She took in another deep breath before opening the door. "_It's now or never"_

Waling into the office Kira didn't know what to expect because she'd never really been in there before. Her last boss always called it his "private headquarters" and no one was supposed to disturb him there. She pictured it to be some dimly lit, dirty room, with old pizza sitting in the corner but when she walked in it was quite the contrary.

The walls were a soft pastel green with a white border and tan colored carpet without one stain. There were two light green chairs sitting in front of the oak wooden desk were the boss man sat. Ah yes, the boss man, he of course was _not_ what Kira expected to be at all.

From the height he was sitting down in his chair, he seemed to be a tall man, with brown eyes and short brown hair. Sort of like Dr. Oliver's hair, minus the gel. He dressed professionally in cotton green button down shirt and a pair of black slacks. Kira felt sort of out of place sitting there in her cut off shorts and skin tight jeans. He office looked so……business official and she just looked like some loose waitress.

Looking up from what ever papers he was signing, the new boss gave her an award winning white smile, ushering her in with his hands.

"Hi, come in, come in!" he said all cheery like and Kira timidly walked in.

"_Wow, he really does look like John Hues." _She thought while taking a seat on one of the chairs in front of the desk and sitting as scrunched up as possible trying not to gather any unwanted attention.

"Why do you look like I'm going to pounce on you, I don't bite you know." He said with that smile again.

"I um…..I just…..hi, I'm Kira" she said.

The boss laughed. "Hi Kira, nice to meet you finally, I've heard a lot of things about you." He said.

"How'd you…………."

"Your last boss was my Uncle"

She made an 'o' shape with her mouth.

"Well nice of you to come in, I'm not here to fire you or anything, I just wanted to get to know you. It's hard being the new manager of a whole staff of women."

Kira smiled.

"That's a beautiful smile you got there." He complemented and she blushed.

"_Oh God please say that he doesn't try to hit on me." _She thought.

"So how old are you?" he asked.

"Um, 18 sir" she replied.

"Oh call me Derek." He said.

"Ok" she said still holding on to herself instead of sitting comfortably. She didn't know what it was about this guy but something about him creeped her out. Maybe it was him being so nice. Was it real or was it an act?

"hmm, 18, well you fit the age requirement, that's good. I had to fire 3 girls this morning because they were under aged." He said aloud to himself.

"_Mina, Lindsey and Julia, that's why there were fired."_ She thought.

"Oh….well yah, I'm 18 alright." She said nervously.

"That's good, well I suppose that's all for now, it's Friday and we've got hungry costumers so, I think it's time you started you shift." He said.

Kira could never be happier to get out of there, that little "meeting" was way to creepy for her liking. "Alright" she said getting up and heading for the door.

"It was nice to meet you Kira" he said.

"Nice to meet you to……..si…..Derek" she said before exiting.

As soon as she shut the door Kira shuddered. That man was way to creepy.

………………..

10:30 at night and it was finally closing time. The restaurant initially closed at ten but it took awhile to get the place clean and organized for the day ahead. Kira sighed wiping the last table clean and setting the chairs on top of it. Finally after a long day of serving perverts, changing orders for costumers who couldn't make up their minds and resisting the urge to deck whoever decided to try and peek down her shirt, she could go home.

She walked over to the back and clocked out, saying her goodbyes to her co-workers who were locking up.

Kira grabbed her purse and keys from her little cubbyhole and headed out the restaurant to her car.

"_Man today was a long day. I can't wait to get home and see Austin_. _I just hope the poor thing isn't too fussy after staying with that baby-sitter for so long."_ She thought to herself while unlocking her little Beetle.

It was pitch dark outside with the exception of the dim streetlight making it hard for her to see. She thanked God that her five senses worked wonders though because at the moment her hearing was like a leopard.

Hearing something rustle in the distance, Kira began to get a little anxious about being out there late at night all alone. Who knows what sort of weirdo or creep was lurking around these parts of Reef side. (Like her boss)

Deciding to get out of there fast, Kira quickly inserted the key into her car to unlock it but before she could even pull the key out she heard the last sound she wanted to hear.

The cocking of a gun.

Her heart skipped a beat as she could feel a presence behind her. A big heavy presence who currently had a gun probably to her head.

"Give me the purse" demanded a deep rusty voice.

Her breathy became rigid and she was scared out of her whit's. she didn't know why either. She was a power ranger, she should be able to take this guy out no problem. She's faced bigger things than this. But some how this just seemed to be different, she had never been directly held up at gun point, blasters maybe but not a gun. She was scared no terrified of guns and that to say the least was truly awkward coming from a power ranger.

Kira looked at the reflection in her car window to see a broad tall man behind her, with a ki mask over his face, holding the gun to her head just as she had suspected. Her heart skipped another beat as she looked at how huge the man was. She had doubts about fighting him because he was so big, could she really take him on? It was no use anyway because Dr. Oliver always told her, you can never fight when you're scared, you have to be brave and push all your worries aside. And at this point that wasn't happening, she was scared for her life, she was a sitting duck.

"Give me the purse!" he yelled now, shaking the gun some.

Kira tried to calm down as she handed the guy her purse without turning around. She didn't dare want to look him in the eye.

As he dug through the purse he still had the gun aimed at her head meaning she was still a sitting duck. She praised the Lord that she had no credit cards and her drivers license was in her car rather than in her purse. As a matter of fact the only thing that was in her purse was about 5 dollars, a couple of pictures of Austin and maybe some gum. Maybe if the guy found nothing he'd go away.

But boy was she wrong. Frustrated the purse was empty he slammed it down on the ground and now grabbed her and held her close to him, putting the gun directly on her head now.

She could feel the end of his pressed against her skull and now her heart was beating fast as ever and her breathing was irrational while she panicked uncontrollably.

"There's nothing in that stupid bag of yours bitch. Look's like I'm going to have to take something else from you." He horsed coldly.

Before she could even comprehend what he was saying the guy spun her around and slammed her against her car pressing himself on top of her and beginning to fumble with her pants line.

Now her brain was working properly and she clearly understood what he was trying to do thus leaving her to attempt at fighting back.

"No! Stop it! Leave me alone!" she screamed at him trying to push his hands off of her.

"Shut-up!" he yelled holding the gun to her once more reminding her who was in charge.

Kira instantly shut her mouth now, remembering the gun and remembering her life was at stake. What was she going to do? He had a gun to her head and was prepared to shot if she didn't do what was told. She began to cry now, as all the thoughts of abuse and death crossed her mind.

Just as he was about to yell at her once more to shut up, the man felt himself being brutally thrown off of his victim, the gun being kicked out of his hand and now was being pounded into pavement.

Kira was in just as much shock as he was and everything happened in a blur. Her heart was still racing and she looked down to see her savior and for the millionth time that night she was surprised.

It was Trent.

………………………

Sorry I just had to leave it there. I had to let your minds wander. Review and tell me what you think!


	4. Roommate

A little secret ch 4

Thanks for the reviews everyone. Although I did have a problem with one review and the whole Spanish issue. I just wanted to let you guys know that I'm keeping the Spanish thing. Being of Spanish culture and a Spanish speaker myself, I thought it would be interesting to throw it in there. As always when one of the characters use Spanish dialect, I will translate in parenthesis, but I'm still keeping the Spanish idea. Sorry if you don't like it but I want to see how the story runs with it in there. I prey this doesn't come off as a huge deal, I'm just trying to spring new ideas.

…………….

Kira's heart was still pounding as she watched Trent pound the creep into the parking lot while the guy had no chance at fighting back; Trent really was a strong fighter.

While her breathing was slowly coming back to normal, other things began to race into her mind like, what if Trent didn't come along or, how'd he get here so fast anyway? And what was he doing out here so late at night?

When he finally felt that the criminal learned a lesson Trent stopped and gave him one final kick in the ribs. "Now beat it you jerk!" he said and the guy scrambled to his feet and took off, leaving the gun behind. Still disgusted with the man, Trent kicked the gun into a nearby sewage drain before finally turning to Kira.

"Are you ok?" he asked now going into concern mode and rushing to her side.

Still a little shocked, Kira stumbled a bit until she was able to find her words. "Y-y-ya I'm fine." She said as her heart beat and breathing came back to normal.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, yes, defiantly sure" she reassured him.

Suddenly an awkward silence came upon them. Neither knew what to say next. Here Kira was, one second getting mugged, then the next, Trent comes along and saves her, but now neither new what to say to each other. What do you say to the man who just saved your life? (Kira made a mental note of this to ask someone who was saved by her or her teammates when a monster attacked) Plus on top of that, what was Trent doing out there in the middle of the night anyway? Shouldn't he be at home or something? Of course he could ask her the same question but it didn't stop her from wondering.

"So uh…….you work here?" he asked noticing her uniform.

Kira paused for a moment. She forgot she was still in her work uniform. Now Trent knew! What was she supposed to do now, she couldn't lie to him, the restaurant logo was printed dead across her chest. He figured out one of her secrets and now he was one step closer to knowing about Austin. Today was defiantly not her day.

"Um……ya, I do." She admitted not being able to come up with a valid excuse.

"So that's what's been eating up your free time." He said and she sighed leaning against the car and rubbing the back of her hair.

"Ya, I guess"

"Why didn't you just tell us?" he asked.

"What I get a job at the Hooters runner up and I'm supposed to be prancing for joy?" she said and Trent laughed.

"Well working at the Cyberspace café isn't a walk in the park either but if you had a job you had to go to, all you had to do was tell us, we would understand." He explained.

Kira just gave off a little "hn" as a response.

Silence dropped on them again and Kira quickly tried to divert the subject.

"So….uh…..where are you going so late at night?" she asked.

"Honestly, I have no clue." He said.

This sparked an interest in her mind. Here it was, quarter to midnight and Trent had no clue where he was going? How about you start with what the heck you were doing out so late in the first place?

"What do you mean?" she asked.

Trent sighed leaning up against the car next to her. "My dad kicked me out" he said.

At the mention of this Kira nearly fell over but Trent saved her for the second time that evening and caught her before she hit the cement.

"Are you sure you're alright?" he asked.

"Ya, I'm fine, positive" she said regaining her balance then giving Trent an awkward look. Trent getting kicked out? How could this happen? If Trent wasn't the definition of responsible, mature, academically achieved and just an over all do gooder, she didn't know what was.

"You got kicked out? How'd this happen?" she asked in surprisement.

Trent sighed. "Well my dad's been real stressed lately, you know with the whole company and things, and he's not particularly a fan of my art work. He warned me about a week ago that if I continue this "nonsense" that he's throw me out until I got my head fastened on correct. I of course thought he was bluffing so I continued to draw anyways and obviously today I found out he was serious when he found my portfolio and kicked me out." He explained.

Of course this was only the partial truth. Although Trent did get kicked out because of his drawings the only reason his father went over bored with it was because of the whole Mesegog/Mercer issue. He was obviously stressed about it and his Mesegog side kicked in forcing Trent out of his home. Trent though decided to leave anyways figuring the longer he stayed the better chance he got at being killed him his sleep.

"That's awful" Kira said feeling really sympathetic towards the poor white Ranger. She knew what it felt like to be kicked out of your own home and now she wasn't even sure Trent had anywhere to go.

"So what are you going to do?" she asked her voice full of concern.

"Well first I'm going to find an all night burger joint and feed myself; I'm starved. Then after that, I have no idea." He said.

Kira sighed. She knew, in all her heart that she should invite Trent to stay with her. It wouldn't be right to wander the streets all alone or let him fend for himself. Not especially after he just saved her life. The only problem was, living on her own, Austin, and her job were the three biggest secrets of her life. She didn't and couldn't let anyone in on them, it would be just to much of a hassle. But she could trust Trent right? He wouldn't tell would he? Plus he already knew one of her secrets, he could handle the other two right?

"What about Haley and Dr. O?" she asked.

"Eh, I'd rather not let them in on this. They'd get to involved you know?" he said and Kira nodded. Oh she knew all to well.

She sighed again before making her mind up. She really couldn't leave him like this, Trent didn't deserve it. He deserved a home and 3 meals a day just like she did.

"_Kira, you better know what you're doing." _She thought to herself.

"c'mon, get in the car"

"huh?"

"Get in" she repeated picking up her dropped purse and finally opening the car door, unlocking all the others for Trent to get in.

Slowly and surly he got in the passenger side of the car and Kira revved up the engine, pulling out of the parking lot.

"Kira, were are you taking me?" he asked.

"To my place" she stated simply while pulling onto to road and beginning her journey back to her apartment complex.

"But I can't go there, won't your parents be mad?" he asked.

She sighed again before deciding to tell him, the first person she ever told about her problems. "I don't live with my parents."

Now it was Trent's turn to give off a perplexed look and begin to wonder what happened. "What?" he asked.

"A couple months ago, my parents kicked me out too. Their alcoholics and one night out of the blue it just came across their "brilliant" minds to kick me out of the house. I use to fuss a lot with my parents but this time I decided to leave no fuss no fight and get the heck out before I wound more hurt then I already was. I stayed with one of my friends for about a week until I found an apartment that I was able to get because I knew the manager. So I moved in a little while later. But the rent wound up being $300 dollars a month and I knew a part time job wouldn't cover it, hence my job at that awful place back there." She explained holding back the tears of being reminded of that awful experience. She hated reminding herself about it, and she never talked to anyone about it so it was defiantly emotionally painful to be reminded of it again.

"Wow" was all Trent could muster out after that story. He couldn't believe all that his teammate had gone through. And all this time he and the others had no clue this was going on. She sure did a good job hiding it and more or less hiding her emotions.

"Wait, but there's more." She added.

"_There's more? What else could there be?"_ he thought. "What happened?" he asked

"About two weeks after moving in, a baby was left on my door step." She said.

"A baby!" he asked shocked. Now that was the last thing he expected her to say.

"Yes a baby. I know it sounds weird but yes there was a baby left at my door with in a little basket with a blanket and a note saying "please take care of him"" she said.

"Kira please tell me you didn't"

"Well I couldn't just leave him there!"

"What about social services?"

"I couldn't take him there. I mean, what if he wound up getting parents like mine, or what if social services didn't treat him right? Anything could happen to the poor little fellow and I didn't want to think about him going through the same experience I did so I just kept him. I felt this connection to him, like I couldn't let him go and it was job to take care of him. And the feeling was really strong to, like as strong as the feeling was that I knew it was my duty to be a ranger. I had to keep him, I couldn't let him go so, I did. I took care of him and when I turned 18 last month I adopted him." She explained.

"Whoa" again only one word was all Trent could muster out. So this was it. These were the big secrets Kira's been hiding all this time. This is why she always had to run off or was busy everyday of the week and was constantly falling asleep in class. She had her own place to manage, and her own son. Kira was defiantly a very busy girl and now he knew why.

"Trent you have to promise, no _swear_ that no matter what you won't tell _anyone._ Not Dr. O, not Haley, not the team, no one. No one can know about this." She said.

"But why are you hiding this, we could help you Kira. Especially Dr. O and Haley, I mean with you managing all these things and then ranger duty on top pf that, you need help." He said.

"No Trent. You have to promise to keep this a secret. I'll keep your secret, you keep mine" she said.

Trent understood the meaning of secrets and the meaning of not wanting help. He knew that Dr. Oliver and Haley and the support of his team could help him with his Mesegog secret but he didn't want help. And with him keeping it from them for so long they'd probably get angry, he had to keep it a secret. So he understood what Kira was trying to do by keeping this under her belt, she probably felt that she needed to do the same thing. Plus he knew Kira, if things were getting to much for her, she'd ask for help.

"Trent, please promise me" she begged.

Trent turned to her and gave her a reassuring smile.

"I promise" he said.

Kira let off a smile of relief. She knew that smile and she knew that Trent would keep this secret to his grave. She could trust Trent, she could always trust him, he was a great guy. She knew that he'd keep her secret and it felt good to finally tell somebody.

…………….

At about 12:20 they finally reached the apartment complex and Kira lead Trent to the elevator and to the third floor where the babysitter was.

Walking down the hall to room 305, Kira knocked on the door surprised that she didn't hear the bawling coming from inside like she normally did.

"Um, Kira, why are you knocking on your own door?" Trent asked and Kira laughed.

"This is the babysitter's apartment silly." She said and Trent sheepishly laughed.

"oops" he said temporarily forgetting about the baby.

Before another word was exchanged between the two, the door opened by the elderly woman who was smiling that cheery smile while holding Austin in her arms.

"Hello dearie" she greeted.

"Hi Mrs. Smith, sorry for taking so long tonight, I sort of got held up at work." She apologized. "_Literally"_

"No problem dearie, always a pleasure to have him around." She said while handing the excited baby over to his mother.

Austin happily bounced at being in his mothers arms and Kira smiled finally able to see her baby for the day.

"Hey my little Goober! How ya doing? Mommy missed you! Yes she did!" she cooed at him giving him little kisses all over.

Mrs. Smith simply smiled at the young girl. Although she knew that Kira was a young mother, the connection she had with her son was strong and she knew Kira would be ok.

"Here's his diaper bag." She said picking up the bag by the doorway and handing it to Kira.

"Thanks, and thanks again for watching him Mrs. Smith." Kira said.

"No problem dearie, always a pleasure. See you tomorrow." She said.

"Alright, goodnight."

"Goodnight honey" she said waving one final goodbye to Austin and Kira and closing the door.

Kira made her way back to the elevator, Trent following behind in tow all the while cuddling her baby boy.

"Mommy missed you so, so much! I missed you so much little Goober." She cooed at him. Reaching the elevator and pressing the up button she looked over at Trent who was looking at the baby curiously.

"Wanna hold him?" she asked and he gave her an unsure look.

"Uh….not right now, maybe later" he said and she chuckled.

"He won't bite, he only has one tooth"

"Ya but…….I don't know I'm not to good with babies" he said and Kira chuckled once more. Trent was an original.

…………………

Review!


	5. Realization

A little Secret ch 5

………………

The elevator dinged and opened up it's double doors revealing the empty little cube. "After you" Trent said and Kira smiled walking in with Austin followed by himself. "Which floor?" he asked.

"Five" she said and he nodded pressing the button to close the doors then the five button.

"Here, let me get that for you" he said offering to take the diaper bag.

"Thanks" she said graciously handing it over. As Trent took the bag, he was a little shocked of the weight of the thing, he hadn't expected it to be that heavy.

"Jeez Kira what do you keep in here?" he asked slugging it over his shoulder.

"Well he's normally over there for about the whole day so I have to keep a couple outfits in there in case he throws up on um' or something. And there's some formula, about 2 bottles, a couple of cans of baby food, a blanket, a box of wipes, a bunch of diapers, his binkey, his jacket and about 3 of his toys." She listed.

"Jeez Kira"

"Well hey, you have to be prepared, he's not at home so the babysitter has to have everything." She said before the elevator dinged letting them off at the fifth floor.

As they walked down the hall to Kira's room, she finally noticed the little knot on his head that the babysitter called her about earlier that day. "Oh boy, I need to put some ice on that don't I bubba?" she said to him lightly touching it but Austin pulled away.

"Ok, we're home." She said finally reaching her apartment, 515. Kira sighed, happy to be home as she pulled out the keys. Turning them in the lock and opening the door, she flicked on the lights and walked in, letting Trent in as well.

Trent looked around at the apartment; It was small but nice. It had peach walls with tan carpet and two paintings placed on the wall. The living room area had one sofa and one accent chair with the tv at an angle for viewing on both chairs. It also lead to a small little balcony perfect for sitting down and reading on a quaint day.

Then behind the living room about 5 feet away was the kitchen area which Kira hardly used. The only things that was really put to work in there was the microwave and the refrigerator and that of course was a necessity for any young adult.

To the right of the kitchen was a small hallway leading to 3 rooms, Kira's room, the baby's room and the bathroom and that pretty much completed her apartment. Once again, small but nice; Trent liked it.

"It's nice" he commented still looking around.

"You don't have to lie you know, It's ok if you hate it." She said hanging up her keys.

"No, I like it honest, it's perfect for your first place. Did it come pre-furnished?" he asked.

"Ya, thank God. If it didn't I'd be sleeping on the floor and lounging in a plastic chair." She said and Trent chuckled. "Well anyways, it's late, you can wash up if you want, I have to give Austin a bottle and get him to sleep." She said.

"Well as good as a shower sounds right now…..I uh…..have no clothes." He said and she chuckled.

Walking to a closet in the hallway Kira opened it and pulled out a towel a rag and a plain white shirt a pair of boxers and a pair of grey sweat pants.

"Here you go" she said handing it to him.

"Thanks" he said about to head for the shower but he paused and turned back around facing Kira. "Uh Kira?"

"hmm?"

"Why do you have guy clothes in your house?" he asked.

"Oh didn't I tell you? Sometimes I have some of the guys I pick up from work come over and they accidentally leave there clothes here." She said and Trent's face seemed to pale at the mention of the story.

Kira only laughed at Trent's reaction patting him reassuringly on the shoulder. "It was a joke silly calm down." She said giggling some more.

"Oh, don't do that Kira" he said and she laughed again.

"I swear your face turned as white as your uniform." She said and he glared at her before heading to the bathroom.

Kira laughed one final time before heading to the kitchen to get Austin's bottle.

………………

Trent walked out of the bathroom with the towel wrapped around his neck as he dried the water from his ears. He sighed a sigh of content. It felt nice to be fresh and finally have a shower, even if he had to use lavender body wash, it didn't matter he was clean.

He walked into the living room where he found Kira sitting down on the sofa, watching late night television and chuckling a bit from the sketch comedy that was on.

Trent smiled and sat down next to her also taking a peek at what was on the tv.

"Hey you, find everything ok?" she asked.

"Ya, it's good to be clean" he said rubbing the last of the water out his hair with the towel.

"Ya, I'm about to shower myself." She said.

"Where's the baby?"

"Sleeping, he didn't even want his bottle he just fell fast asleep."

Trent yawned at the mention of sleeping. "I know the feeling" he said.

"You can sleep in my room if you want, I'll sleep out here on the sofa."

"No, no, no, I'll sleep out here, I don't want to take your room from you." He insisted.

"It's ok, I have no problem sleeping on this thing. It pulls out into a bed." She said patting the good old sofa.

"Don't worry about it Kira, I'm imposing enough as it is, I'll sleep on the sofa."

"Stop being so modest your not imposing"

"Well if I am or not, I'm sleeping on the sofa ok?"

"You sure?"

"Positive" he confirmed.

"Alright, but if you change your mind, let me know." She said getting up to go shower.

"Will do" he said before turning his attention to the tv.

……………….

The next morning Kira woke up at about 6:30 not able to get much sleep at all. All the events of the previous day just shocked her beyond belief. Last night she hadn't really paid much attention to it because she was concerned about Trent's well being but now it was getting to her.

She was mugged, in what was supposed to be a calm city known as Reef side. She was a freaking power ranger and she allowed herself to get mugged, how pitiful was that? And what if Trent didn't come along? What would have happened to her? She could be dead right now.

Kira groaned and rolled over in her bed, trying to adjust herself to a better sleep.

"_You're just stressed Kira. Just calm down and try to get some sleep. Everything's ok now, all you need to do is rest."_ She thought to herself snuggling up in her bed some more.

But it was no use, the thoughts kept protruding her mind and keeping her from her valued rest. And after 2 hours of failed attempts to try and sleep, Kira decided to give up and get up anyway.

He sighed trudging out of bed and out of her room, about to head to the bathroom until she saw a shadowy figure moving up and down in her living room. "_Who the heck is in my….oh ya Trent."_ She thought momentarily forgetting about her house guest.

Walking into the living room she saw him doing push-ups while watching Saturday morning cartoons. It was funny because his counting went something like this, "120….121…..122….ha, ha what a stupid duck……125……126………I knew that was going to happen…….128." and so on and so forth.

"Buenos Dias Sr. músculo." (Good morning Mr. muscle) she greeted and Trent chuckled at the nick name.

"Me gusta tu' pelo. Es muy bonita esta mañana." (I like your hair. It's very pretty this morning) he said in sarcasm referring to her long messy morning hair.

Kira glared. "That doesn't leave this room." She said before heading to the bathroom and Trent laughed some more.

…………………..

After showering and grooming herself and all, it was 9:05 and Kira was surprised that Austin wasn't awake yet. He was normally the first one to wake, getting up at about 7 o' clock each morning. She went into his room just to check up on him, and after seeing him still sound asleep Kira decided not to bother him.

Walking into the living room once more she found Trent done with his work out but still watching Saturday morning cartoons. She guessed the only reason he found so much interest in these cartoons was because he was an artist and he liked the animation. It was either that or like Conner there was a little kid living inside of him.

"Hey you" she said sitting on the accent chair.

"Hey." He said turning his full attention towards her now.

"You the clothes that I just gave you are all sweaty now, right?" she asked and he nodded.

"While you were sleeping I snuck back to my place and grabbed some of my clothes and stuff." He said.

"Oh" Kira said. At least she wouldn't have to go on a clothes search for him today as she was originally planning to do. "Wait a minute, if you left, you'd you get back in?" she asked. Surely he didn't leave the door unlocked, because if he did she'd probably throw him off the balcony right then and there.

"My drago sword works wonders with locks." He said grinning and Kira tossed a pillow at him.

"Trent!"

"I didn't brake it! I just opened it. I was going to knock but I didn't want to wake you up." He defended and she glared.

"Ya whatever just don't do it again. I don't need the neighbor asking me why some boy is breaking the lock into my house." She said and he chuckled again.

"So uh…..what's on the agenda for today?" he asked.

"Nothing really, I'm off work today sooo…..no clue. Probably just stay home with Austin and spend time with him." She said.

"Hmmm, sounds relaxing, well as relaxing as taking care of a baby gets." He said.

"What about you? What are you up to today?" she asked.

"Uhh…….well I have a shift today so I'm heading to work at noon and then, Conner, Ethan and me were gonna head to the movies to see that new action flick. I forgot what it was called but what ever." He said.

"You're going to see a movie, with only the five bucks you had in your pocket from yesterday?" she asked.

"Hey, clothes weren't the only thing I got from my house this morning." He said.

"Trent! Tell me you didn't take money from your dad!"

"No! What kind of person do you think I am! I didn't take his money……….just his credit card." He said and Kira's mouth dropped open.

"Trent!"

"What, he gave it to me awhile ago anyways, I just didn't use it, and now I am. Sheeh. Besides he didn't expect me to "fend for myself" with five bucks did he?"

"What about your job?"

"All that money is in my savings account for college"

Kira just gave him an awkward look. "You money thief" she said getting up to go tend to her son who just started crying.

"I'm not a money thief." He defended.

……………..

Walking into the nursery, Kira peeked in the crib to see Austin wide awake, wailing his eyes practically screaming at her that he was awake. "Ok, ok, don't hurt yourself, I hear you baby." She said picking him up out the crib and into his arms.

Once in his mommy's arms, Austin still kept at it which was unusual for him. He normally stopped as soon as she picked him up. "What's wrong bubba? How come your still………" she stopped mid-sentence when she felt his back which was wet.

Turning him around there was a big yellow spot on the back of his pj's causing the source of his crying. "Oh that's gross" she said before grabbing some of his clothes and an extra diaper and heading to the bathroom.

After setting him down on the changing table, he actually stopped crying and looked up at his mother, with curious eyes. "_Well at least he stopped."_ She thought taking off his wet clothes and throwing it in the hamper, then taking off the diaper which was soaked and putting it in the trash.

"Man, you really had to go, didn't you bubba?" she said and he only smiled at her as cool air, brushed on his soft bottom. The joys of being naked, it was a pleasure to any baby and if Austin could have it his way, he'd be naked all the time.

Trent took this time to walk into the bathroom and he paused for a quick moment, not expecting to see a naked baby in there. "Uh….I wanted to tell you that I'm going for some breakfast, you want anything?"

"Where ya going?" she asked walking over to the tub and plugging it up and turning on the water.

"Haley's"

"hmmm, some pancakes would be nice." She said while getting the soap from the cabinet below.

"Alright…….um……….Kira?" he asked.

"Ya?"

"Is he supposed to do that?" he asked pointing to Austin who currently has his foot in his mouth. Kira laughed.

"You silly baby! Take that little foot out you mouth." She cooed at him, gently withdrawing his little foot from his mouth. "He's just flexible that's all." She said and Trent shrugged before heading out.

…………………..

It took a good while to actually bath Austin that morning on the count that he wouldn't stop, squirming, kicking, laughing, splashing and all that good stuff while he was bathing.

So by about 10:00 she was done, bathing him and he was now in a fresh pair of clothes. An adorable little blue baby outfit with a monkey eating a banana on the chest and little banana's printed all over.

"There, all done" she said snapping the last of the snaps to keep the outfit on. "Now, let's go see if Trent's got that breakfast yet" she said picking him up and opening the door to the bathroom and heading for the kitchen.

Oh but as she in for a surprise when she got there. Sure Trent was in the kitchen, with the pancakes or her, sitting on the counter. But he wasn't alone.

When she turned to face the living room after spotting figures out the corner of her eye she saw the 4 people she didn't want to see at that moment or more or less in her house at all.

In the living room was Ethan, Conner, Haley and an angry, Dr. Oliver.

……………….

Review!


	6. Secrets revealed

A little Secret ch 6

…………….

The first thought that came to her mind was, "_What are they doing here? How'd they find me? I never………Trent"_ she concluded. "_That dirty little conniving, oh when I get my hands on him! Promise to keep a secret my foot!"_ she angrily thought feeling the tears stinging her eyes.

She didn't know why she wanted to cry but she guessed it was because her secret was out. After all this time of doing her best to hide it, it was out; to everyone. She couldn't believe it. Why'd they have to be in her business anyway, couldn't they just leave her alone. Ok that was rash talking; they were only concerned for her well being but still. She didn't want them to know, it was for the better, and now that they were here, in her apartment, watching her holding a baby, there wasn't a thing she could say to convince them other wise.

And Trent, he swore to keep her secret. What the heck happened? It hasn't even been a full 24 hours yet and he told? Going to get breakfast her foot! She couldn't believe it. Here she was, showing hospitality to the boy who was kicked out his home and keeping his secret and he had to go and tell hers! How wrong was that! She couldn't believe him, she helped him, and she trusted him to keep her secret and he sang like a canary.

Trent noticed the look of shock, anger, confusion and betrayal on her face and he tried to say something to possible try and change her mood. But he didn't know what to say. He could tell that she was angry at the moment and anything he said right then might have made it worse.

"Kira, what the hell is going on here?" Tommy asked being the first to speak. He himself wanted to know what was going on? Today had to be the most confusing day of his life. All this time he thought that she was living safe at home with her parents and today he came to find out she was alone? And with a baby? And to make matters worse he found out another one of his students was temporarily homeless after being kicked out of his father's home. What was going on with his students?

Kira stood in silence and didn't know what to say. What was she supposed to say? She couldn't give a smart remark, that would be rude; and he is after all her sensei. But at the same time she didn't _have_ to tell him what was going on, she was a grown adult, what was her business was her business. Then again he was like a father to them all and he did help and support them in almost everyway possible so it was understandable why he was angry.

"Ok, since you seemed to be confused at the moment, let me help you out a bit. Conner said that this morning he found your cell phone over on Davie Rd by some restaurant and he went to your house this morning to give it to you. He said that your parents said that you didn't live there any more and so he went to the cyberspace café to look for you. He ran into me, Haley, Ethan and Trent and explained the situation and asked where you were and………….."

"You told!" Kira snapped angrily at Trent interrupting her teacher.

"I'm sorry Kira! Really I am, you know how I am with lying, I can't lie to them!"

"I don't believe you told Trent! It hasn't even been 24 hours yet! And you promised no you _swore_ that you would keep my secret Trent, I don't' believe you!"

"I'm sorry Kira! But what was I supposed to say! They already found out from your own parents that you didn't live there anymore, what could I possibly make up?" he said.

Kira shut-up and sighed. He had a point, what could he say. Conner already when to her prior dwelling and heard from their mouths that she didn't live there anymore. What could he possibly say? Curse her parents, she hated them for doing this to her. And curse that stupid mugger! If he hadn't snatched her purse and dropped her cell phone, none of this would be happening right now. "_I knew I was missing something out of my purse."_ She thought with a sigh.

"Kira, why did you hid this from us hun? If all this was going on, you should have told someone." Haley said.

"I couldn't" she said really fighting to keep the tears away now.

"What do you mean you couldn't sweetie, we would have helped you, I mean I'm in my mid-twenties and I know it's not easy managing your own place. I can't imagine how it would be for you being so young and having a baby to take care of." Haley explained.

"I know that, but I didn't want help. I mean I know Dr. Oliver says all that stuff about understanding when you need help and all that stuff but, I didn't want it. I mean I relied on my parents to help me with just…..life in general, and they turned their backs on me. They don't care, all they care about is drinking. So I stopped trusting everyone, I figured the only way to get by would be to help myself."

"Kira we would never do that to you, we're your team, we're here to help you." Tommy said.

"I know that but I just….I don't know, I didn't think I could trust anyone anymore. Besides I knew all you guys would do is try and talk me out of it and I didn't need that, I needed to get out and find my own place and live my own life. I didn't want to be trapped by my parents any more." She explained.

"Ok, and what about………..the baby?" Tommy asked pointing to Austin who had no idea what was going on so was quite happy at the moment now chewing and drooling on his fist.

"After about two weeks of moving in, Austin was left on my doorstep." She said point blankly.

"You mean like those chick flick movies?" Conner asked and Kira chuckled some at his comparison.

"Yah exactly like that as a matter of fact. I was going to take him to social services but I couldn't. I mean what if he wouldn't up getting parents like mines, or if the social services didn't treat him right or anything could happen to him and I didn't want to see that happening so I decided to keep him, I took care of him and when I turned 18 I adopted him." She said.

"Kira….." Tommy began.

"I know Dr. O, I'm only 18 and I was 17 at the time when found him but, I just couldn't help it. As stupid as it sounds I felt like I was drawn to him, I don't know some sort of connection or bond or message told me to keep him and I had to. It was like the same feeling I got when I knew I had to be a ranger, if not stronger." She said.

Tommy sighed. He knew what it meant to be connected to something. He couldn't count the number of times that he was in his life time. She did have a point but, he didn't like to see her with all this weight on her shoulders, it had to be too much for her to handle.

"Kira, are you sure about this?" he asked.

"I've been sure for the passed couple months." She said confidently.

Tommy sighed taking a seat on the sofa and rubbing his temples. Today really was a long day and it wasn't even noon yet. Why was he always under so much stress.

"Well……" he began sighing again. "How can I argue? You're not a kid anymore." He said.

Kira smiled that he was taking into understanding what she was doing. Maybe it wasn't so horrible letting them know after all, he seemed to take it well. Well off the surface, who knows what he was thinking deep down inside.

"Thanks Dr. O" she said embracing him in a hug, careful not to squish Austin.

Tommy smiled returning the favor. He wasn't accustomed to the whole thing but he figured he'd adjust.

"Awwww, que lindo!" (how cute) Conner piped in completely destroying the moment and Kira only chuckled.

"Kira, if you ever need anything, I'm telling you _don't _hesitate to call me." Tommy said making sure it was clear to her that he'd be there for anything she needed.

"Don't worry Dr. O, you're number 1 on speed dial." She reassured and Tommy hugged her again, this time it was more of a safety hug then an everything's ok hug.

"Well……now that it seems that this is all settled…….can I hold him?" Haley asked referring to Austin who was still chewing on his fist.

Kira smiled. "Sure" she said walking over to the sofa and gently handing over Austin to the red head.

For the first time that whole morning Austin finally noticed that there were other people in the room. He looked up at Haley with curious eyes and Haley absolutely melted. "Aww, he's so adorable, isn't he adorable Tommy?" she cooed at him and Tommy kind of made the same face Trent did earlier. He wasn't to fond of babies.

"Sure Haley" he said as the others laughed some.

Austin looked up at Haley and smiled his one toothed smile. He liked this lady already and she hasn't even done much to him but hold him.

Again Haley melted at the smile of the little one. "Oh, you're so cute, yes you are! What's your name little guy?" she cooed at him.

"Austin" Kira answered.

"Aww, that's so adorable, it fits you just right." She said.

"No it doesn't, you should have named him Conner" Conner busted out and the others laughed while Kira playfully whacked him.

"So my friend in yellow, this was your big secret?" Ethan asked.

Kira sighed. "Ya pretty much, and now that the secrets out, I guess it's not a secret anymore." She said.

"Well look on the bright side, you're not hiding anything anymore." Ethan said.

"Ya and your baby is cute, I mean if he was ugly it would make this situation a whole lot worse." Conner added and Kira whacked him on the arm .

"Ow! That hurts you know" he whined and the group laughed.

"Oh, before it gets cold, here's your breakfast Kira" Trent said reaching over and handing her the Styrofoam container with the pancakes in it.

"It's ok, I have to feed Austin first anyways." She said putting the container back on the counter and digging in the cabinets for some baby food. She pulled out one jar the contained Oatmeal with applesauce and pears and figured this would be an appropriate breakfast. Then grabbing a bottle and filling it with some formula from the fridge, she capped the bottle and shook it up so it would mix properly. Grabbing a bib a baby spoon and a napkin, she rejoined the others in the living room area.

"Ready to eat bubba?" she cooed at him and he sat up in Haley's lap, bouncing up and down from seeing the food. "You can hold him still if you want, makes it easier to feed him." Kira said as Haley was about to pass him over.

"Don't you have a high chair for him?" Tommy asked.

"It's downstairs in the storage place. He doesn't like it and all it does is take up space so I put it away." She said snapping on the bib and popping open the jar.

"Hmmm, Oatmeal with Applesauce and pears. Esta sabrosa ¿no?" (It's tasty right?) she said and he only opened his mouth as a response, awaiting the food.

"Sounds repulsing" Ethan commented thinking about the mix put together. "It's a wonder they only feed that stuff to people who can't talk." He said and the others laughed.

"Don't listen to them, its good right?" she said giving him the first bite and he bounced up and down happily gumming the mushy mess down.

"Oh before I forget, here's your phone back." He said handing her the yellow flip phone.

"thanks" Kira said setting it down on the arm rest of the chair.

"Sorry about the low battery, I was playing games on the ride over here." He apologized and Kira rolled her eyes before giving Austin another spoonful.

"So uh….you work at that place?" Conner asked.

"What place?"

"That restaurant, Daisy's gal grill" he said.

"……ya" she admitted and Tommy almost chocked on his own air he was breathing.

"What!" he exclaimed. "What are you working there for!"

"As degrading as it is, the tips and the hourly wage is really good and it helps pay the bills." She said. "I have no choice"

"I think it's hot" Conner said to himself but Kira heard him taking this time to glare again. "What it's a compliment."

"Kira, I don't think I like the idea of you working there" Tommy said.

"Well thanks for your concern _dad_…….." she mocked. "But I got it, don't worry about it. Besides, at least I'm not a stripper, which I've been considering by the way." She said and Tommy's face paled just like Trent's did the previous night.

Kira only burst out laughing. "It was a joke Dr. Oliver, calm down!" she said laughing some more and giving Austin another bite of food as Tommy's face regained normal color.

"Not funny" he said and now the others laughed at him as well.

……………….

Wow, the sixth chapter already! I'm on a roll! Review please!


	7. Throw up

A little Secret ch 7

……………….

About half an hour later and Austin was now done with the food and working his way on the bottle. Kira let Haley feed him on the count that she couldn't get enough of him and he was so adorable.

So as Kira was eating her pancakes for her morning breakfast, she sat and listened to Dr. Oliver and his speech on, when to tell a secret, when you need help and al that other stuff that comes along with it. She figured he was still worried about her situation but she knew her teacher well and if he'd accept it, he'd just do all he can do to make life easier for her.

Her friends seemed pretty much supportive about it too. Haley wanted to cuddle Austin every minute of everyday, Trent (although was the one who squealed) was also supportive and also offered to help in anyway he could and Conner and Ethan were already trying to play baby games with him even though he was eating.

So pretty much all and all, she found it wasn't that bad that her friends were let in on her secret. (Except for the speech that her teacher was giving her at the moment) they didn't go all bezerk like she thought they would and offered to help in anyway they could.

"You understand Kira?" Tommy asked.

Kira nodded while taking the last bite of her pancakes and wiping her mouth with the napkin.

"Kira, why do I have the feeling that your weren't listening to me?" Tommy asked.

"Cause we never do" Conner answered for her and the others chuckled while Tommy glared at him.

"Oh…..uh…..sorry, it thought that question was directed at me." He said and Tommy only rolled his eyes before turning his attention back to Kira.

"I was listening Dr. O, you basically said that if I need anything to call and make sure to understand when I need help, and if anything is going wrong and I can't fight in battle one day or something just let you know." She recited after swallowing and getting up to put her utensils in the sink and throw the container away.

"Are you sure you have my right number?" Tommy asked.

"Jeez, Dr. O, calm down, I can handle it, don't worry. And I know what worrying is what you do best but take a breather. I have your house number, your cell phone number, your extension line at school, Haley's restaurant house and cell phone number and if all else fails, I'll press the distress call on my communicator." She said.

"No, Kira, if all else fails you dial 911!" he said and Kira rolled her eyes.

"Oh ya what was that number again um……..912 or something like that?" she teased.

Tommy's face fell flat. "Don't joke like that Kira" he said and she laughed.

"Tommy, would you take a chill pill for one minute and come sit down and relax." Haley said patting the spot next to her on the couch.

"But………"

"Come sit Tommy." She said more sternly now and Tommy sighed before making his way over and sitting next to Haley.

"Trent I want you to stay at my house until your dad feels it's necessary to let you move back in." Tommy said.

"Aww, you mean no more over night flings with Kira." He said as he and Kira began to laugh now and Conner, like Tommy did earlier, almost chocked on his own air.

"Tell me I didn't just hear that." He said.

"Why do you guys insist on teasing me today, I'm trying to be serious" Tommy said.

"Just trying to lighten the mood Dr. O, calm down." Kira said before heading into Austin's room.

When she came back out she was holding his mattress and a rag and carried it out to the balcony. There she scrubbed the stain out a best she could before letting it air dry.

"Eww, gross, baby stains." Conner said when she came back in.

"Hey, it's all part of the process." She said.

"How old is he?" Ethan asked.

"7 months"

"So he like, throws up and stuff?" Conner asked.

"Conner all babies throw up."

"I know but it's sick. How do you deal with it 24-7? I remember once I was holding my sister's baby and he threw up on my favorite shirt! I never held him after that." He said and the others chuckled.

"It's a part of the growing process, besides I'm sure you through up when you were a baby." She said and Conner grinned.

"Ya, my mom used to tell me stories of when like me and my twin brother used throw up at the same time." He said.

"As if one Conner isn't enough" Ethan said.

"_Anyways_ moving on, since we know your secret and all, and apparently you're not doing anything today, wanna head to the mall?" Conner asked.

"Oh, is this a date I smell." Ethan teased and Conner's cheeks turned a light shade of pink.

"No! It's simply spending time with your friends. Besides I was going with Haley anyways so I could help her with her shopping." Conner said as-a-matter-of-factly.

"You trust Conner to help you with shopping?" Tommy asked unbelievably.

"I need someone to hold my bags, and I promised his 5 bucks." She said as the others laughed at the thought of Conner being a lackey.

"I don't know……...I was just planning on staying home today." Kira said unsurely.

"Well change your plans, c'mon Kira you _never_ go anywhere." Conner begged.

"Sure I do, just because you don't see me, doesn't mean I don't do it."

"Kira! C'mon, you've got nothing to hide now. I mean………that is…….unless you don't like us anymore………(sigh) it's understandable if you think that we're all a bunch of losers because we still….(sniff) live with our folks. I mean since we're not cool enough, I guess we should just go our separate ways." He said in a helpless sort of tone.

"Oh, stop the guilt trip Conner, if you really want me to, I'll come." She said.

"Ya!" he cheered. "You wanna come to Ethan?"

"Sure why not? I've been meaning to get my mom a birthday gift anyways"

"How about you Dr. O? You know you want to." Conner tempted.

"Sure, I guess I'll go." He said although he really didn't want to. But if it was a way that he could keep an eye on Kira and make sure she's alright, he'd do it.

"Wait, hold on a minute. So all of you are going to the mall today and I'm going to be stuck at Cyberspace slaving over all the work?" Trent said.

"You won't be slaving over all the work Trent, there's 6 other employee's and the assistant manager there." She said and Trent glared.

"That's no fair"

………………….

They arrived at the mall at about noon in 2 cars. Ethan and Conner took Conner's mustang, while Haley, Kira, Austin and Dr. Oliver took Haley's Nissan. After parking right next to each other, it took awhile for Kira to get Austin settled in the stroller before they actually headed inside.

A strange vibe wafted over Kira as she entered the mall. It's been months since she's last been inside and the last time she come in, she didn't have a baby with her. For the passed months she'd been relying on department stores and little plaza's to get clothes and things she needed for herself and Austin, everyone in the mall just looked so, carefree and happy and honestly, it's been a while since Kira last had that feeling.

"Alright, were to first? The game store, the CD store, the movie store?" Ethan asked excitedly.

"No, that new clothes outlet I think it's called, "Jenny's" or something like that" Haley said as she directed them to the store of her choice.

"Aw, man" Ethan said a little disappointed. It was practically tradition for him to head to the gamming store when he came in.

Once reaching the store that was wall to wall filled with clothes, Haley beamed at the number of cute clothes she was seeing just by glancing. Tops and tanks, skirts and shirts, pants and all, if her salary would allow she'd by them all.

"Aww, look how cute" she said picking up one of the tops off the rack. It was an angel sleeved faded pink shirt with sequence in the shape of one of those kaleidoscope images on the front. As Haley went from rack to rack, picking up and commented on various pieces of clothes, Kira strode along behind with the others, taking a look at some of the clothes herself.

"Hey Ethan what do you think? Wouldn't I look dashing in this?" Conner asked holding up a pair of bright banana yellow paints, holding them to his waist and flipping his hair repeatedly. Ethan only chuckled and Kira did as well. Leave it up to Conner to do something silly like that.

"Wanna buy um' Kira? They're in your color." He tempted, showing her the bright yellow pants.

"No thanks Conner, they're a little too yellow for my liking." She said pushing the pants away.

"I bet you the squirt will like um'. What do you say squirt?" Conner said bending down over to the stroller and showing him the pants. Austin gave Conner a blank stare and continued to chew on his fist, a habit he was fond of lately.

"I guess he thinks they're too yellow too." He said placing the pant back.

"So, see anything you like for your mom Ethan?" Tommy asked.

"Truthfully Dr. O, I have no idea what she wants. Have any ideas?" Ethan asked.

"Well for my mom's last birthday I bought her a china cabinet………."

"Dr. O, it would help if you said something in my budget line." Ethan interjected.

"Well you didn't let me finish. I was going to tell you that you could always try jewelry, girls like jewelry." He suggested.

"Oh that's so not true. Once I was on a date with this girl and I gave her a ring and she hated it and threw it at me right before she left." Conner said.

"Conner, the little rings from your cereal boxes don't count." Kira said.

Conner grinned sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. "Oh, ok never mind."

Before another word was said, Austin took this moment, to interrupt with a cry. Kira pulled the stroller back and stepped in front of it preparing to take him out. She knew good and well that he couldn't stand being in there for 20 minutes tops and she had no idea why she insisted on bringing the thing.

"Alright bubby, calm down." She said picking him up out the stroller and his cries immediately deceased. Looking around with curious eyes, Austin became excited with the bright colors and new things all around him. All the fluorescent and pastels and such were a lot for a baby to see and he immediately wanted to touch them.

Leaning over his mommy's shoulder, Austin grabbed one of the near by shirts that were hanging on the rack and immediately began to feel the clothing for any sort of play material. Deciding that there was nothing interesting about it, Austin was just about to shove the cloth into his mouth but thankfully Kira stopped him in time.

"Hey, hey, hey, don't eat that." She said taking the shirt from him and putting it back on the rack. Austin gave her a blank look as to why she took away his amusement.

"Here buddy, you can chew on this." She said reaching in the diaper bag and pulling out a binkey for him. He opened his mouth, gladly accepting the binkey but decided he still was not content with entertainment.

Again looking over Kira's shoulder, he spotted 3 people behind him, Ethan, Conner and Dr. Oliver having a light discussion on who knows what. These people seemed interesting to him; especially the one with the short spiky hair. Austin wanted attention and he was sure going to get it. Reaching out over Kira's shoulders, Austin stretched his tiny little arms out as far as they could go over to Tommy.

Kira turned around to se what he was reaching for and she smiled when she realized he wanted her science teacher to hold him. This should be interesting.

"Dr. O, I think he wants you to hold him." Kira said and Tommy looked up from his conversation and gave the baby an unsure look. He wasn't really fond of babies. Like Conner a little incident occurred back when he was in high school and from then on he vowed never to associate with them much after.

It was back in sophomore year, back when he was the green ranger and one Saturday, Jason asked he, Zack and Billy to come over to his house for awhile to hang out. Well as the 3 teens arrived at their best bro's house, Jason's parents had to run to some Saturday convention leaving Jason to baby-sit his 10 month old sister. He asked his 3 friends to help and they gladly accepted not knowing the task that lie ahead of them.

As soon as Mr. and Mrs. Scott walked out the door, little Jamie immediately began the tears; And she wouldn't stop. She kept crying, and crying, and crying and nothing would make her stop. The boys tried tv, silly faces, silly dances, her toys, nothing would get her to calm down. So finally Billy suggested some juice. Jason asked Zack to retrieve the bottle and he did filling it to the rim with apple juice.

At last Jamie stopped her tears and drank up all the apple juice. The boys were relieved and as the doorbell rang, Jason got up to answer it and handed off his baby sister to Tommy. And then, the work thing imaginable happened. As soon as Jamie was passed to Tommy she threw up, all the apple juice and then some all over the poor green ranger. He was soaked in baby juice ruminants and it even got into his precious hair. It wound up being Kim and Trini at the door and when they saw Tommy they both had a good hardy laugh while the poor teen had to run home to change.

That was a day Tommy would never forget. Every time he saw a baby he got this little phobia that it would suddenly come to throw up on him. And that's why he gave Kira and Austin that kind of awkward look.

"C'mon Dr. O, he won't bite." Kira said holding out Austin for him to take. "He only wants to play with you."

Tommy groaned a little as he carefully accepted the baby and held him outward as if he was diseased. He didn't want to take any chances.

"Dr. O, you know that's not how you hold a baby. C'mon he doesn't smell, he just had a bath this morning." Kira said wondering why he was so testy around Austin. Did it bug him that much that she was a teen mother?

Tommy sighed, bringing the baby closer to him and holding him correctly and Kira smiled. "Aww, look how cute that is" she cooed as Ethan and Conner chuckled at the sighed of their science teacher holding a baby. That was defiantly a Kodak moment.

Looking up at the man who was holding him, Austin smiled and bounced up and down in Tommy's arms. He liked this man too.

Tommy let a small smile creep on his face. Maybe he was wrong about babies. Austin was kind of cute. And that incident did happen about 11 years ago, this was different. Maybe the newest generation of babies take into consideration who they up chuck on.

Well unfortunately, they don't because the worst he expected happened right then and there.

Austin threw up.

…………………….

Review! Ha ha ha I was laughing writing this chapter!


	8. Conversations

A little secret ch 8

……………..

"Dr. Oliver I am so sorry." Kira apologized for probably the millionth time that afternoon.

They had taken Tommy to buy a new shirt and attempting to salvage the last one would be a loss. He went to the nearest restroom, cleaned himself with paper towels, soap and some water, and tossed on the new shirt. Kira also had to change Austin's outfit on the count that some of his breakfast landed on him too.

Tommy didn't think that he'd ever forget this, or the incident that happened 11 years ago. And it didn't help either that from the time the incident occurred, Conner, Ethan and Haley couldn't stop laughing at him. It brought back to many memories of hat dreadful Saturday he encountered back in his high school days.

"It's alright Kira, really." Tommy said with a sigh. He meant the acceptance of the apology, he really did, but there was _no way_ he was holding that baby ever again.

"Man, I knew I should have taken that picture of Dr. O and Austin with my camera phone." Ethan said as they cruised the mall and Conner laughed while Haley giggled.

"Alright guys, that's enough, don't tease him." Haley said patting Tommy on the shoulder, feeling a little sorry for him.

"Sorry Dr. O, it's just to funny." Ethan said.

"I'll keep that in mind, when he decides to get you next." Tommy said, causing Ethan to give the baby a glance.

"There's no way I'm holding that thing." He said.

"Would you guys stop calling him a thing, he has a name you know." Kira said holding her precious baby who was now on the verge of sleeping. Nothing like a good nap after you empty your stomach.

"Alright, from now own, I dub thee, the barfinator." Ethan said playfully knighting Austin on the shoulder. This only earned him a stern whack on the arm from Kira for calling her baby such a name.

"Ow, ok, ok." He said while rubbing his arm.

"So, Haley where are we headed next?" Conner asked lugging her bags over his shoulder. Haley really knew how to shop when she wanted to.

"Well, I'm getting kind of hungry, you guys want to head to the food court or the cyberspace café?" she asked.

"Café defiantly, it's getting crowded in here." Tommy said.

"Ya I agree with Dr. O. Plus I want to put these bags down and I can use my 5 bucks to buy a burger and a milkshake." Conner said.

"Alright, café it is" she said, and with that they made their way toward the exit.

……………….

Arriving at Haley's popular Reef side café, the capacity was pretty moderate for a Saturday afternoon and Haley smiled happy to know that her restaurant was doing fine. Pulling her shades on top of her head, she made her way to the back of the restaurant while the others took a seat.

This is when Trent took the opportunity to make his way over, sitting in between Tommy and Ethan.

"So………" he began, making his presence known. "How was your glorious afternoon without me?"

"It was sweet!" Ethan beamed, remembering the events at the mall; or more specifically the one event that they all remembered. "You should have been there Trent"

"Ya" Conner added. "The baby threw up on Dr. O"

This caused several reactions at the table as Tommy sighed, having to go through the torture again, Kira's face went into apologizing mode, Trent and Conner began to laugh again, and Trent tried his best to hold in his laughter, doing his teacher a little justice.

"Are you……….serious?" he asked in between chuckles. "You……….ok Dr. Oliver?"

"Go ahead Trent, laugh, get it out your system." Tommy said with a sigh.

With this granted permission, Trent went into full blown laughter along side Conner and Ethan, picturing his poor science teacher covered in baby contents.

Finally settled soundly in his stroller, Austin began to stir a bit from his slumber, hearing the laughter from the boys.

"Guys stop it" Kira said calming the laughter at the table. "He holds our grade in his hand you know, keep embarrassing him and you'll find an 'F' on your report card." She said.

"Aww, it's all in good fun, right Dr. O?" Ethan said and Tommy replied with a "Humpf"

"You know, Kira does make a valid point" he said.

"You wouldn't seriously lower our grade would you Dr. O?" Conner asked, knowing if he got anything less then a C, his mom would have his butt.

"We'll see on report card day" he said with a smirk, finally feeling like he had the power once more.

"Aww, look what you did Kira, you gave him ideas!" Ethan blamed.

"Ya whatever, your laughter was waking up the baby anyways" she said, looking at Austin and readjusting his blanket some.

Conner peered over into the stroller as well, getting a good look at the baby. "He's kind of fat Kira" the red ranger noted out of the blue. "You should put him in baby aerobics or something"

As always, this caused a group rolling of the eyes at the many statements of Conner.

"You continue to surprise me" Ethan said.

"What? I didn't say anything dumb this time, I'm serious, I'm just pointing out he's a little on the chubby side."

"Conner all babies are fat, they thin out when they get older" Trent said.

"Ohhhhhh………………..so what do they have baby aerobics for?"

Saving the red ranger another eye roll, Haley came up to the table, note pad in hand.

"What will it be today guys?" she asked.

"Wow Hail, it's only been 5 minutes and you're already back to work?" Ethan asked.

"Hey, a business can't run itself" she said with a smile. "So what will it be?"

"Cola!" Conner chimed.

"A lemonade please" Ethan asked.

"Cola would be great too hail" Tommy said.

"Pineapple soda" Kira said.

"Cranberry juice please" Trent added and Haley gave him an odd look.

"Shouldn't you be working?" she asked.

"No, my shift ended…………….3 minutes ago" Trent said with a smile, checking his watch.

Haley narrowed her eyes at him. "I'm watching you Fernandez" she said before going back to the kitchen.

"So Trent, coming with us to the movies tonight?" Conner asked.

"Ya sure, what movie are we going to see?" he asked.

"_Bloodheart's Revenge III"_ Conner replied. "It is so sweet, my brother Eric told me he saw it and there's this one lady who's running through the forest and all and then, her head totally gets chopped off! And then there's this dude who was sneaking around the mansion but then bloodheart jumps out of no where with a huge butcher knife and…………"

"Alright, thank you Conner" Tommy interrupted, not wishing to hear any more of the explicit graphics.

"Ya plus your going to give away the movie" Ethan added.

"Whatever, it's still going to be a good movie. Wanna come Kira?" The teen offered to his yellow teammate.

"No thank you" she declined.

"Aww, why not? It'll be fun"

"Watching some lady get her eyes gouged out is not on my list of must sees"

"That was in part two" Ethan pointed out.

"Whatever, I still don't care to pay 8 dollars to watch something like it. Plus I have to watch over Austin tonight"

"Bring him with you, the more the merrier" Ethan said, now in on the invite for Kira.

"I don't think so. Austin gets really fussy and he'll probably cry the whole time and I'll get kick out the theater. I prefer to watch movies at my own apartment."

"Oh c'mon Kira, you never get out" Conner whined, trying to get his friend to come.

"Like I said earlier Conner, you don't know that. Just because you don't see me, doesn't me I don't do it"

"Ya, ya, whatever, excuses, excuses" he said.

…………………………….

When Kira got home that evening it was about 4:30 which meant that it was close to Austin's dinner time. He was still sleeping however so she left him in the stroller and waited for him to wake up, while she had a little free time for herself.

Plopping down on her sofa, Kira flicked on the tv, and kicked off her shoes, enjoying the little "me time" she had to herself for a little bit. She knew this "me time" would only last about half an hour before Austin decided to wake and claim he was hungry but for the mean while it was pretty good. A time to just kick back and relax.

Not to say that she hasn't been relaxing all day though. Shopping with her friends was fun. She got that good feeling inside her again as she cruised the mall with her closest friends, joking around, looking at possible things to buy and conversing with one another. She was so wrapped up with school, work, saving the world and the baby, she almost forgot about those things. It was nice to take a break for the day.

And to mention that fact on how well that her friends were taking to the fact that Kira even had a baby in the first place. She thought they'd freak out, which initially they did, but they seemed to be handling it way better then she thought they would.

She thought if she told them they'd judge her or push their help on her or even look at her in a different way; after all she was a teen mother. But over all they were pretty supportive and treated her the same which was great. Haley even bought Austin a couple new baby outfits because she just couldn't resist his adorableness.

Overall, they were taking the baby thing really well, and knowing that they took it well, and they would always be there to help not only took a whole bunch of stress off her shoulders but it helped her realize that these truly are her friends that would stick around for ever.

………………………………..

It was around 8:30 now and Austin had already fell asleep for the night and Kira already finished showering and was now in her pj's, on the sofa, watching tv, and enjoying her evening to herself. Once again the "me time" was kicking in and it felt good to know she had nothing to do.

Getting up off the sofa to go and order some pizza for diner, Kira's mission to the phone became sidetracked when there was a knock at the door.

She sighed and rolled her eyes, hoping it wasn't some solicitor attempting to sell her something she couldn't afford or the baby-sitter coming to "check on her" and talk all night about how life was in the good ol' days.

"_So much for me time"_ she thought, heading to the door to answer.

When she opened it though, to her surprise it wasn't a solicitor or the baby-sitter at all, it was Conner McKnight in the flesh; standing there with his hands shoved in his pockets and rocking back and forth on his heels.

"Hey Conner, what are you doing here?" Kira asked, surprised to see it was him standing there.

"Oh you know I was in the neighborhood and I thought I'd drop by" he said causally.

"But I thought you Trent and Ethan were going to the movies?" she asked with a raised eyebrow. Conner, "dropping by" because he was in the neighborhood did not sound like him at all.

"Well, I was sitting in the movie theater, and then I thought, Kira's at home all alone, with nothing to do but watch over the little guy and probably finish her homework all night, so maybe I should drop by and keep her company; she doesn't deserve to be alone."

"Movie tickets sold out huh?"

"Ya" Conner said with a sheepish grin on his face. Did he really make it that obvious?

Kira giggled some, knowing her teammate all to well. "Come on in Conner" she said, opening the door wide enough to allow him in.

"Thanks" he said stepping into the house, hands still shoved into his pockets.

Closing the door and walking passed the red ranger, Kira went into the kitchen in search of the phone. "I was going to order some pizza, want some?" she offered.

"Sure" he said, wondering into the living room and sitting on the sofa.

She joined him about five minutes later and plopped down on the sofa as well, sighing and blowing some of her hair out of her face in the process.

"Tired?" Conner asked.

"No, not really I'm just kind of………………..I don't know bored I guess. I'm normally so busy I have no free time but now that I do, I don't know what to do with myself." She admitted.

"That happens to me to" Conner compared. "Except with me, I never have anything to do so I just don't know what to do with myself"

Kira chuckled. "You're something else Conner"

"So I've been told" he said with another grin.

A small silence dropped between them before Conner decided to pick up the conversation again. "So where's the squirt?"

"Sleeping"

"He does and awful lot of sleeping"

"He's a baby, that's what babies do. Play, sleep and eat"

"And poop" Conner added. "And in Dr. Oliver's case, throw up"

She laughed some. "So, other then the fact that the movie tickets sold out, and you were "just in the neighborhood" why did you stop by?"

"Well I already told you, I thought about you being all alone and decided to keep you company." The red ranger said in all seriousness.

Kira smiled a flattered smile. When he wanted to, Conner could be a real sweetheart.

"I mean that's only if you want me around, if you want to be by yourself I could understand, I could just, leave or……………."

"No, no, it's ok Conner. That's really sweet of you" she said.

Conner gave her a playful but bashful smile, pretending to blush and be flattered. "Oh stop Kira, really, you give me to much credit, really you do. You're going to make my head all big" he said.

Kira chuckled some. That Conner; what a joker he was.

…………………………………

End of chapter! Yes I know this one seemed to have no real action in it but I promise the next will be better and hopefully come sooner if my crazy life decides to straighten itself out. Lol. But honestly, I'll try my best to update faster! Sorry it took so long.


	9. Babysitter blues

A little Secret ch 9

………………………………..

Sunday morning and it was work time again, so unfortunately, Kira's "me time" was over for the weekend.

Her and Conner wound up talking pretty much all night about everything and anything and after the conversations she had with him, Kira had to admit, Conner was more intelligent then she gave him credit for. He really made some valid points in the things they talked about, and knew what was going on in the world. She didn't think someone like Conner would even acknowledge the news, more or less, talk about it. He really wasn't as big of a goof ball as he portrays himself to be.

But anyway, her time with Conner didn't change that fact that she still had to go to work today which meant that it was off to the baby-sitters for Austin which she knew he wasn't looking forward too.

"Alright buddy" Kira said, grabbing the diaper bag and her purse. "Let's get going" she added, picking up the smiling baby from his place on the floor.

Austin smiled and giggled when she picked him up, bouncing in her arms and clapping his hands.

"You excited buddy?" she cooed at him, tickling his tummy and little causing him to giggle more. Yep he was defiantly excited; Austin liked going places but the only thing was, he didn't know he was going to the baby sitters yet. When he got there then the tears would begin to fall.

…………………………

Work that day was a drag.

On top of it being crowded, —which was unusual for a Sunday—, her boss seemed to be getting creepier and creepier as the minutes went by. He was always looming over her and the other girls like a hawk; and it wasn't that, I'm-watching-you-so-don't-try-any-funny-stuff kind of loom. It was the same kind of loom that the customers gave them, that I-wanna-get-you-in-bed kind of loom. She couldn't tell for sure because he seemed pretty nice overall, and very professional, but there was always the benefit of the doubt.

And if that wasn't enough, there were a countless number of costumers, hitting on her that day and she strongly had to resist the urge to punch them all. If she had a dollar for every time some random guy gave a wolf whistle, a cat call or made some sassy comment at her, she'd probably be rich by now.

Yes work that day was defiantly a bummer, and it was only 2:30, she had to work until 8 tonight.

Sighing as she made her way into the employee's locker room, Kira decided to take her lunch break now, seeing as her tables were finally clear, and now she might be able to get some peace of mind.

Walking out the back door to catch a little fresh air, she spotted one of her co-workers on the back porch, chatting with some guy next to her, and she only smiled at the both of them before getting lost in her own thoughts.

"Hey Kira" came the voice of her boss apparently just stepping outside.

Kira turned around to face the man who interrupted her thought train before it could even begin. "Yes?"

"Uh, Paige couldn't finish her shift, she got sick and had to leave home. Could you finish it for her?"

"But I'm on…………"

"Great, knew you would, thanks!" he interjected, before going back inside, leaving Kira there to sigh.

"Break" she finished to herself shaking her head in dismay. If he wanted her to finish the shift, he should have just told her to do it, rather then ask and then dump it on her.

"_My days only get worse and worse"_ she thought to herself before going back inside.

…………………………….

Finally reaching back at the apartment at about 10:30, Kira was looking forward to just getting Austin, rocking him to sleep and hitting the sheets but unfortunately she was in for more bad news that day.

She arrived at the babysitter's apartment, knocked on the door, and could hear the peace and quiet coming from inside. That normally meant that Austin was asleep by now which was a good thing because now she'd be able to focus on getting her own self to bed.

The door opened shortly after her knocking but it wasn't answered by elderly Mrs. Smith like it normally was, it was answered by another lady, a younger looking lady who looked like she could have been related to her.

Kira raised her eyebrow in question to not only wondering what happened to the babysitter but to who this lady was and was her baby ok.

"Uhhh, hi." She said unsurely, still eyeing the woman in front of her. "Is Mrs. Smith around?"

"You're Kira right? The mother of baby Austin?" the woman asked, seeming to carry a sad look on her face.

Kira caught on to this quickly and immediately went into panic mode for her baby. "Yes, what happened? Is he alright?" she quizzed.

"Oh, yes he's fine, he's fine."

She breathed a sigh of relief. "So what happened? Where's Mrs. Smith?" she asked.

"Mrs. Smith is my grandmother, and she's not feeling to well."

"Ohh I'm so sorry"

"No it's alright, I'm sure she'll be fine. All she needs is a couple days of bed rest but………" the woman sighed. "But I'm afraid she won't be able to watch over your son for the probably the next week."

Kira sighed and her face fell a little; This just put the icing on the cake of her bad day. Although she understood that the babysitter was clearly incapable of watching over Austin for a few days, just where the hell was she going to find a babysitter at the last moment?

"I'm sorry if this puts you at an inconvenience I didn't mean to…………"

"No, no, it's not your fault" Kira reassured. "I understand"

The woman gave her a weak smile, still obviously concerned for her grandmother. "Thank you"

"No problem."

"Right well come in and I'll bring Austin to you."

She gave the woman a small smile as well before following her inside.

………………………………….

The next morning, Kira sat at the table, feeding Austin his breakfast with a sigh, wondering just what she was going to do.

She had stayed up all night, brainstorming ideas for who could take care of Austin but it was impossible to find a babysitter on such short notice. Not to mention that daycare was not an option because she simply couldn't afford it.

Where could she take him? She could always take him to Haley's but then again a restaurant business was no place for a baby. Or she could watch over him herself but, she couldn't miss anymore days of school, she'd be way too far behind and there'd be nobody to watch over him when she went to work.

Looking over at Austin who was currently gumming down his breakfast, Kira sighed trying to think of any other last minute options she could take rather then the one last thing that was stuck in her head.

Nope, nothing. It looked like she had no other choice. She'd just have to take him to school.

…………………………

Kira pulled into the school parking lot and sighed as she looked at the school in front of her. There were over 3,000 students in that school which meant that there were over 3,000 students to gossip about her once they saw her with a baby.

She sat there in the car for a moment, reviewing her plan and hoping that everything would come into play. She only hoped that her teammates would cooperate and that Principal Randall, —her biggest fear— wouldn't suspect anything.

Turning around in the back seat, Kira looked at Austin who was happily playing with his toys in his car seat.

When he caught sight of her looking at him, he smiled and she returned the favor, cupping his little chin in the process. She really wished she didn't have to do this but, at the moment she was desperate she had no choice.

Reaching for her communicator, Kira pressed the talk button in hopes of reaching her mentor.

"Dr. Oliver, are you there? It's me Kira."

There was a pause in the connection before he spoke up. "Dr. Oliver here. What's up Kira? Are you ok?"

"Ya, ya, I'm fine it's just………………." She paused looking back at Austin again. "I have a teeny little problem, could you meet me in your classroom?"

"Sure thing Kira"

"Thanks, I'll be there in one minute."

…………………………………….

She paced swiftly and quickly through the halls with a rather large box in her hands, hoping she wouldn't come across Principal Randall or worse, Cassidy on her way to Dr. Oliver's classroom.

And although she was moving quickly through the halls with a hug box in her hand, oddly enough, it wasn't attracting any odd or unusual stares from the students. They all thought she just had a project in that box (seeing as that's how most students carry them) so they all paid her no mind which she figured was a good thing.

Rounding another corner, Kira was just 5 classrooms away from Dr. Oliver's room and she smiled graciously to herself happy that she didn't get caught or seen by anyone.

Suddenly she felt a tap on the shoulder.

"_Spoke to soon"_

Turning around and expecting it to be her dreaded principal, Kira was relieved to see that it wasn't the principal at all; in fact it was Conner and Ethan, greeting her with warm smiles.

"Hey there Kira" Ethan said graciously.

"Hi" she said, shifting the box in her hand; it was getting quite heavy.

"Whatcha' got there?" Conner asked, trying to peer inside. "A project?"

"I'll explain in a minute, could you just open the door for me?" she asked and the red ranger complied, opening Dr. Oliver's room door.

She sighed a sigh of relief as she walked into the room and saw Tommy inside, munching away on his daily breakfast apple and chatting with Trent about his assignments.

"_Thank God, I made it"_ she thought, gently setting the box down on Tommy's desk.

"Hey Kira" Tommy greeted, with a smile, chucking the core of his apple in the trash.

"Morning Dr. Oliver" she replied with a hint of exhaustion in her voice; that box was really heavy.

"Something wrong? You said you needed to talk to me about something?"

"Hey what's in the box?" Trent asked, interrupting her before she could speak and pointing to the cardboard cubicle on the desk.

"Uh….ya, Dr. Oliver…………………."she began a little nervously. "Can I ask you a favor?"

"Sure anything"

Taking these words literally, Kira opened up the box on the desk and carefully pulled out little baby Austin who was sitting patiently in his carrier, playing with the toys attached.

It was pretty safe to say that the reaction from the room was nothing less of stunned as they saw what was in Kira's arms. Tommy's eyes went as wide as saucers, Trent had paused in his tracks, Conner grinned wanting to see where this was going next and Ethan shook his head in dismay.

"………………..Kira!" was all her beloved mentor could say after he searched for his words. "What……………..what……..what's going on? Why did you bring him here?"

"I know, I know Dr. O, he shouldn't be here but the baby sitter was sick and I had no other option."

"So you brought him in a box!"

"Well if I would have walked down the halls with the carrier, obviously it would have drawn some unwanted attention." She defended.

"Oh, oh my God, I need to sit down." Tommy said, taking a seat at the chair of his desk.

"Cool, so you're going to bring the squirt with you to your classes?" Conner asked looking down at baby Austin who was now staring around the room with curiosity.

"No, I was uh…………….I was hoping Dr. O could take care of him." She said.

"What!" Tommy exclaimed, shooting right back up out of his chair. "Kira you're not serious."

"C'mon Dr. O you said if I needed a favor to just ask and I _really_ need this favor. The babysitter canceled on me last minute and there was no one to take care of him."

"Kira I have a job too you know. I have to teach, I can't watch over a baby"

"Well I figured since we were learning about the human science you could just incorporate him into your lesson plan."

Tommy contemplated this idea in his head for a moment. She had something going there, that could actually work. And he did say that he'd do anything to help, and he did want to do anything to help her out. It seemed like she needed it right now and it was only one day right? He could handle it.

Oh what was he saying here? He couldn't handle it. He already vowed he'd never touch that baby again after the barfing incident and not to mention that babies weren't allowed in school. It wasn't an official written rule but it wasn't allowed; he knew it wasn't.

"Kira………….babies aren't allowed on campus, with or without a lesson plan."

"Ya, and once Principal Randall finds out, I don't think it will go so hot from there." Ethan added.

"Dr. Oliver please" she pleaded. "I am begging you. I would have stayed home and watched over him myself but I'm going to fall to far behind just………………please!"

"Kira…………………"Tommy whined; dragging her name out.

"Please Dr. Oliver you know I _never_ ask you for _anything_ this is the only favor I need."

Tommy sighed again, rubbing his temples. "And what exactly am I supposed to tell Randall when she finds out."

"Just tell her he's your nephew. Tell her that he needed a babysitter for a day and you thought it would be a good idea to incorporate him into your lesson. She likes you; she'll probably let it slide this once." Tommy glared.

"You really thought this through haven't you?" Trent asked.

"Dr. Oliver I'm desperate." Kira stated and Tommy sighed once more.

"Alright, alright!" he agreed and Kira cheered, embracing him in a thankful hug. "But only for today" he reasoned. "Hopefully it'll give you a little extra time to find a new sitter."

"Oh thank you Dr. Oliver, thank you!" she squealed. "Trust me you won't regret this!"

"Hopefully I won't" he mumbled, looking down at the baby before him.

……………………………………………………………….

Review!

Sorry for the prolonged delay in updating folks! Hopefully I can start to update more quickly seeing as I'm on writers block for my other stories. The next chapter will probably come soon for ideas seem to be swirling in my head right now and hopefully my computer is willing to cooperate.

So until next time, click that fancy purple button and review!


	10. The diaper chronicles

A little secret ch 10

……………………………..

Once the bell rung and students began filing in the classroom, whispers began buzzing around like bees in a hive. It had not even been a minute into the school day and yet probably a good hundred rumors were whizzing around the classroom about whom this baby was and what he was doing in the there.

Tommy groaned as he was beginning to regret this decision already. He had 6 classes to teach today. He didn't know how he was going to do it with a baby in his arms and a room full of about 25 gossiping kids. He could feel it now; this was defiantly going to be a _long_ day.

The final bell rang indicating all students needed to be in their class and while the students took their seats, the whispering became louder and things like, "_He looks like Dr. Oliver" _and "_Maybe it's his long lost son"_ could be heard loud and clear. Tommy turned to Kira who gave him a weak smile and he sighed, before deciding to try and make the best of this day.

"Alright, alright class" he said, attempting to hush his students. "Settle down, settle down" he said using his hands to guide their noise level. Slowly and surly the conversation died down and the students perked their ears attentively to hear what he had to say.

But before the poor teacher could say a word, Cassidy Cornell's hand shot in the air, depriving him of any explaining to his class.

"Yes Cassidy?" Tommy asked wearily

"Are you aware that there's a baby in a carrier on your desk Dr. Oliver"

"Thank you for that stunning report captain obvious" Conner replied for Tommy and the class burst into a fit of giggles leaving Cassidy to glare at the soccer star.

"Alright, settle down guys" Tommy said, shushing them again. "Yes Cassidy, I know there's a baby on my desk" he added. "But thank you for reassuring that"

"Now class" he began, addressing the students as a whole. "As you know, in the passed week we have been studying………………what Trent?"

"Human reproduction and the stages of life" he answered and Timmy nodded.

"Correct, human reproduction and the stages of life. Now on Friday we left off where……………….Amanda?" he asked, pointing to one of his honor grade nine students.

"On the ending of human reproduction" she replied.

"Correct, on the ending of human reproduction, hence bringing forth the next stage after that process which is, infantry; the first stage in the 5 stages of life." He explained. "And for a demonstration for this portion of our lesson, I brought, this little guy" Tommy said showing Austin to the class.

He of coursed received a wave of "aw's" from the girls which was no surprise and a couple of "eww's" and "Gross" from the boys.

"Ok guys this is Austin my……………..erm……..nephew and he's 7 months old and at the firsts stage of the five stages of life. Now as we open our books to page 289, can anyone read for me, what to expect at this stage"

A few hands shot up in the class, but not to many as some were withdrawn from focusing and had their attention on the baby who was currently attempting to stuff his foot in his mouth.

"Yes Ethan" Tommy said while removing the table part of the car seat so Austin could enjoy the taste of his own foot.

"Uh, right well, _In the first stage of life—the infantry stage— the human body is beginning to recognize the outside world and it's features and life on it's own, outside the womb. In this stage of life the infant will go through a serious of steps towards growing for example, eating solid foods, walking, talking, grasping and communicating with others until he or she has reached the second stage"_ he read from the book and Tommy nodded.

"Good now, with that said and knowing that Austin here is seven months old, what concepts do you think he's grasped already?" Tommy asked and a few more hands went in the air. "Yes Ana?"

"Chewing" she said watching him gum his foot like it was candy.

The class giggled and Tommy nodded, throwing in his own little chuckle. "Right, right, chewing and does anybody know why he's probably chewing on his foot right now?"

"Tastes good" Conner blurted out and the class laughed once more.

"Very funny Conner, um how about……………….Marco?"

"Uh, the squirt is teething?" he asked more than answered.

"Right he's teething" Tommy confirmed. "A normal thing to happen for infants in this stage and as you all may know when you've had your molars come in, solid bone pushing it's way through your sensitive gums is not a very fun process" he said while digging in the diaper bag and replacing Austin's foot with a teething ring.

"Alright now before we go on to anything else, I'd like to move on to a more important matter" Tommy began. "Now last Wednesday, we discussed about safe sex, correct?" he asked and a few snickers —mainly from the guys—where heard around the room. "And apparently you think it's still funny" he said narrowing his eyes exactly at the persons who were snickering.

"Well let me make it a little un-humorous for you guys as I show you what can come at the end of one of your little unprotected nightly escapades."

"This my friends" he began, taking Austin out of his carrier and holding him for all the class to see. (Despite his vows to never touch him again). "This is a baby; a living breathing, functioning baby. And he can be one of the consequences of your unprotected night of "fun". And unlike some of those contracted STD's that you may be able to get rid of with a few treatments or those that only you have to deal with the effects of, this consequence here is for life. He is now your responsibility to take care of until the day of your death. And he isn't a very cheap consequence either" Tommy explained.

"Kira" he asked, grabbing the young girls attention away from the fact that he was holding her child improperly. "Could you give us an example of some of the expenses a baby could have?" he asked.

Kira's heart rate increased a bit as she wondered why Dr. Oliver would ask her in specific. Was he trying to expose her secret to the whole class? But after reviewing the lesson he was going over today and remembering how he was asking all kinds of students for the answers, she figured she was just being paranoid and maybe they wouldn't suspect a thing.

"Why ask her?" Marco blurted before she could give her answer. "Is she pregnant?"

"Your mother" Kira shot back and the whole class fell into a wave of "Oh's" and laughs while Marco glared in her direction.

"Alright, alright guys enough" Tommy said, settling the class again that morning before turning back to his protégé. "Kira?" he asked once more, trying to get back on topic.

"Right well, there's food, clothes, shelter, diapers, doctor's visits, hair care, babysitting if you need it, um, and a whole bunch of other stuff I can't think of."

"Right" Tommy agreed. "And like I said, a baby is for life, and when they grow older, it's only going to get worse. You've got tuition, dental care, toys, broken arms, broken legs, cavities, field trips and eventually college. And not to mention you've got to take care of yourself too."

"Wow" came from some of the students in the class, as they hadn't really thought about all the expenses a baby could bring.

"Hopefully that will be something you guys can think about, before you have unprotected sex." He said. "God willing something like this happens, it isn't cheap."

A hand went in the air, indicating a question wanted to be asked and Tommy acknowledged the students right away. "Yes James?"

"So uh, what if we've got rich folks and they're willing to pay for everything?" he asked.

"Well then, I guess I'll have to show you another responsibility you'll have" he said. "Guys, welcome to the joys of parenthood, which is not all about paying for everything but involves child nurturing as well."

"Starting with joy number one…………………" And he couldn't have picked a better timing for joy number one either for a foul and putrid smell just waved against his nose. It was the smell that could only belong to; a smelly diaper. "Oh, gross" he murmured to himself, scrunching up his nose in disgust and holding Austin away from him. "Changing a diaper."

A chorus of eww's rang though the class and a few of them event went so far as to putting a two finger pinch to their nose.

Ethan's hand went up in the air and Tommy acknowledged him as well. "Ethan?"

"Ya um, Dr. Oliver, not to criticize your teaching methods or anything but, shouldn't joy number one be, learning how to hold him correctly or something?" the game nerd asked.

"Ya I know but the smell of this thing is killing me" Tommy replied and Ethan made a horrid face as well. "Any volunteers?"

No hands went up.

There was no way that anyone was going to willingly get up there and change that soiled thing unless there was a cash prize involved.

"Oh c'mon guys" Tommy said. "There has to be someone in here who knows how" Still no hands went up in the air. "I'll through in 10 points extra credit on your next test" he offered.

Still no hands.

"Twenty points"

No hands.

"Oh c'mon guys" Tommy said. "I'm not going any farther than twenty"

"I thought you were supposed to be teaching us?" Conner said and the class laughed again while Tommy glared. He was about to reprimand Conner for his comment until a much more punishable idea popped into his head.

"Thank you Conner for volunteering" he said and the red ranger's mouth fell open while the class laughed harder.

"No, no, I didn't volunteer!" Conner protested and Tommy only gave him that evil smile which only crossed his face every blue moon or two.

"Nope sorry, to late. Get your butt up here and change his diaper" he said

"Dr. Oliver" Conner whined, dragging himself out of his chair and walking to the front of the classroom as slow as possible. "C'mon Dr. O, I'm pretty sure I saw Trent raise his hand"

"Nope"

"Ok maybe Kira wants to do it"

"Not uh"

"What about Cassidy? She loves babies"

"Eww gross, I'm not touching that drool ball!" Cassidy wailed and Tommy only handed Conner the smelly baby once he reached the front.

Conner held him lengthways, right under the armpits and stretched out from his body. "Ew, I can smell it from here!" he complained and the class laughed some more.

"Alright Conner, since you're our demonstrator, could you please tell us what comes first?"

Conner stopped his fake gagging reactions and class humor attempts to answer Tommy's question. "Uh, you get that changing pad thingy, I don't know what it's called."

"A changing mat, very good." Tommy said while he grabbed the Pooh Bear imprinted changing mat from the diaper bag and laid it on the desk. "Now what?"

"A gas mask and a pair of tongs?" Conner said and more class laughter ensued.

"Conner"

"Ok, ok, you gotta' put him on the mat, and be careful of his head" the red ranger said, gently laying Austin on the changing mat and holding his head carefully until it was safely on the cushion.

"Very, very good. You know I underestimated you Conner." Tommy said. "You know a lot more than I give you credit for." he added with a little chuckle and it was Conner's turn to glare at him.

"You know Dr. O, if I wasn't so fatigued from this smell that's coming out of his diaper, then I'd be upset from that insult."

Tommy chuckled some more. "Less talk, more changing. Now what comes next?"

"Uh, you gotta, get the new diaper and the wipes, preferably with Aloe Vera for sensitive skin" he said grabbing the two items from the bag.

"What are you, Mother Theresa?" Derek, a comate of Conner's asked and the class laughed yet again; what a fun lesson this was turning out to be.

Conner glared in his direction and rolled his eyes before unbuttoning the bottom buttons on Austin's onesies, one by one. "No num-nuts" he replied to his soccer mate. "My sister has a kid and I used to baby-sit all the time"

"Whatever Dude"

"Alright, let's focus less on the insults and more on what your doing." Tommy said, redirecting the demonstrator's attention back to the task at hand. "What's next?"

"Uh…….opening the diaper" he replied, looking unsurely at the diaper that was staring back up at him.

"Good" Tommy replied.

"Uh, can I wash my hands first?" he asked.

"Sure" Tommy said and the jock made his way over to the sink and began to wash his hands diligently, whistling a merry little tune to himself as he went.

The process of washing his hands really took longer than expected as Conner was trying to reach every nook and cranny of his fingers and palms.

"Conner seriously" Tommy interrupted. "While we're still young"

"Hold on" he whined, rinsing his hands free of soap and grabbing a paper towel to dry them. "I want to make sure there's zero germs on them before I proceed" he said, earning a few giggles from his class act.

Tossing the paper towel in the garbage he came back to the desk and exchanged looks with Tommy, the diaper and the baby before looking at his teacher again.

"Gloves?" he asked and Tommy's lip line drew flat.

"This is not surgery, this is changing a diaper"

"That's not chocolate in there!" and the whole classroom erupted in laughter leaving Tommy to rub his temples from the headache he was receiving.

"Conner please"

"Ok, ok" he said, stepping in front of the baby and slowly and carefully beginning to peel of the tabs. "Alright squirt, if you pee on me, then I'll use you for a human soccer ball" he warned baby Austin who was beginning to grow a little uncomfortable from his full diaper and therefore was beginning to whine and squirm a little bit. "Ok calm down little buddy, I was only joking" he said finally getting both tabs off and releasing the diaper.

Finally confronting the smell of the diaper head on, Conner had to take a step back from the grossness and waved a hand wildly in front of his nose to try and rid of the smell. "Oh my God that thing stinks!" he cried and the class laughed again, this time teacher included while they watched the jock attempt to finish the task in front of him.

"Christ kid, what did you have for breakfast, fertilizer?" he asked and more laugher erupted.

"Conner, finish please" Tommy said, shaking his own chuckles away. "Austin isn't to happy about this"

"And he shouldn't be." He replied. "That thing is ripe!"

Holding up his two little legs and removing the dirty pamper, Conner quickly grabbed a baby wipe and mopped his bottom spotless with a total of four wipes, just to make sure it was squeaky clean before slipping on another diaper and closing Austin's onesie, back the way it was.

"There" he said using the tabs of the dirty diaper to seal it shut and picking up Austin into his arms. "All clean"

The class responded with a round of applause and being the class clown he was, Conner bowed and fanned his eyes like he was about to cry, holding baby Austin like he was an Emmy.

"Oh my God, thank you, thank you." He said sniffling for a little effect. "I want to thank baby Austin for making this possible, um, Dr. Oliver for giving me this opportunity, and uh, _Diapers and Diapers_ you're a great company and, just all the fans who voted for me, thank you so much" he said and more applause followed along with a few laughs.

"Alright you, that's enough, back to you're seat" Tommy said and Conner laughed at himself.

"Hey Dr. O, do I still get extra credit for this?" he asked and Tommy pondered this for a moment before responding.

"I'll toss in five points"

"Five points! After I went through all that, you're only going to give me five points?"

"Yep"

"But you offered twenty!"

"You didn't even finish properly, the dirty diaper is still on my desk."

"But I………………..hey I vote we put it in Randall's mailbox, what do you think Dr. O?" he suggested forgetting completely about the extra credit.

"Conner, give me the baby."

…………………………………..


	11. A Princiapal a baby and a teacher

A little secret ch 11

………………………………..

By the end of first period, Tommy could feel that he'd have a serious headache by the end of the day. As the bell rang to dismiss the class, the students finally gathered their things to leave after a loud and rather humorous first period.

Tommy however, plopped down in his desk chair and sighed to himself, looking at baby Austin who was now, bouncing up and down in his car seat as Tommy's protégés approached the desk.

It was only, the rangers and the baby left in the room now and Kira gladly took her son out of his carrier and into her arms, snuggling him against her chest.

"How many class periods left Ethan?" Tommy asked tiredly and Ethan looked at his watch before responding.

"6 and counting" he said and Tommy groaned. "But lucky for you Dr. O, you have a planning period so it's only 5" he reassured.

"It's still to many" the black ranger whined.

"Oh c'mon Dr. O, this was probably the best class we had all year" Conner chirped. "I mean aside from the diaper thing, the little dude is hilarious." he said ruffling Austin's hair a bit but stopped when Kira slapped his hand away.

"Ya, Hilarious for you, but tiring for me" Tommy responded. "If I get a dollar for every time I have to say _quiet down_ today, I can quit my day job"

"Did I mention how much I appreciate this Dr. O?" Kira said and he sighed.

"Only about a thousands times"

She smiled. "Thanks again Dr. O, I know how much pain this is putting you through and I appreciate you're doing it for me"

"Do you really Kira? Do you really know how much pain I'm going through?"

"Dr. Oliver I live with him ok. All day everyday, you only have to deal with him for one."

"Well it's not really him that's causing the agony, it's the students, all the chatter and laughter is giving me the biggest headache I've ever had."

"You know Dr. O, I get the same feeling at my soccer games" Conner interrupted. "When I get hit in the head with the ball, all the cheering from the crowd and the yelling from the players just makes my head spin" he added and this of course caused a group stare.

"That explains so much" Ethan noted.

"Sure does" Trent agreed.

"What?" the red ranger asked wondering what he said stupid this time.

"Nothing" Tommy said with a nod of dismay before getting up from his seat at the desk. "Alright you guys, you need to head to class before you're late" he said standing next to Kira and opening his arms up for the baby.

"Aw, do we have to go?" Conner whined. "I have Pre-Calculus next and that class is boring"

"Yes you have to go because if you stay in here, Randall is going to bust my but for two things so go"

"You really think she'll get P.O'ed about the baby?" Conner asked and everyone responded with dry looks.

"Ok, I guess so"

"Don't worry Dr. O" Ethan began readjusting his book bag on his shoulder. "If push comes to shove, you can always tell her you'll go out on a date with her, then she'll forget about the whole thing." He added with a snicker, along with the other two boys.

Tommy however glared at the two. He didn't think Principal Randall's little crush on him was funny at all. "Out!" he said and the three boys laughed this time before exiting the room, leaving just Kira, Tommy and the baby.

"Are you sure you're going to be ok with him for the rest of the day?" Kira asked unsurely, peering into the diaper bag to make sure Tommy had enough supplies"

"I'll be fine"

"You know if you need anything than you can just call me out of my class right? I mean I have no problem missing five minutes out of a class period to feed him a bottle or change his diaper or even just hold him for a while. And I'll come by in lunch to so you don't have to worry about feeding him that baby food because you know it gets sort of messy and……………………"

"Kira?" Tommy asked, interrupting her ranting.

"Huh?"

"Are you having second thoughts about leaving him here with me?"

"Second thoughts? No, no! Of course I'm not having second thoughts! I mean you're my most responsible teacher, hell the most responsible person I know. I mean sure you'll be distracted by a room filled with about 30 kids or so but that doesn't mean I'm having second thoughts."

"It's ok if you are you know"

Kira sighed, looking at the baby in her arms before looking at Tommy. "No, no, I trust you Dr. Oliver it's just………………….Austin is so…….needy you know. He doesn't take to new surroundings so well and he might give you a lot of trouble. Plus I think this is his first time spending a whole day with someone else, outside the apartment complex."

"Don't worry about it, he'll be fine" Tommy reassured. "And I will be to. I'll make sure to watch over him twice as hard and I'll even take an aspirin to relieve the headache before it comes."

Kira giggled some. "Alright Dr. O, but call me if you need anything ok?"

"Will do" he said accepting the baby graciously that she handed over to him.

After being transferred from mommy to stranger, Austin turned to his mother and scrunched up his face in his "pre crying mode" extending his arms to his mother to go back.

This was always the hard part for Kira as she had to do this everyday when she dropped him off at the babysitters and it pained her to see him cry in the manor he did every morning, missing her eons before she even gone.

"Just go, Kira, you're going to make it worse if you stay longer" Tommy advised and she nodded, giving her son a kiss on the for head.

"Bye sweetheart, I'll be back soon ok?" she cooed at him, slinging her bag over her shoulder and heading for the door.

Tears were falling out of his eyes now and whimpering soon followed as Austin was finding all ways possible to try and extend to his mommy before she left.

"Oh Dr. Oliver, I don't know if I can………………"

"Just go Kira, I'll take care of it, don't worry."

Reluctantly making her way to the door, Kira gave Austin one final look before heading out to the halls.

………………………………….

Second, Third and fourth period seemed to drag on forever. The whole time, young Kira Ford was watching the clock, waiting until lunch when she could see her darling baby boy again but the minutes seemed to drag on for hours. And every lecture in every class sounded like torturous drabble. She was more than anxious to not only escape the mindless chatter but, see how Austin and Dr. Oliver were holding up.

Word about the baby in the classroom spread like a wild fire in the halls and by the end of second period there probably wasn't a soul in Reefside High that didn't know about baby Austin. It was said by some, that Randall was furious and was going to confront Tommy in lunch but then again, it was also said that Austin was not Tommy's nephew like he had claimed but was a test tube baby that the mother didn't want so left in the care of their good old science teacher.

It was obvious that this little game of telephone was getting completely out of hand because there were so many rumors going around that Cassidy probably wouldn't be able to handle such large sums of information.

None the less, lunch time finally rolled around and the school bell rang, dismissing the students out of their fourth period class and off to lunch. Happy that it was finally time to go, Kira grabbed her bag from next to her desk and slung it around her shoulder, leaving from the class in a mere 5 seconds flat.

Making her way down the halls to Dr. Oliver's classroom rather than to the cafeteria like most other students were, Kira trotted down the stairs and opened a door leading to another corridor and it was there that she was met by her teammate Trent, who looked like he had been chasing after her.

"Hey there, what's with the mad dash? Is the school on fire?" he greeted, slowing his pace a little as he finally reached her side.

"Oh, sorry about that Trent, I was just going to Dr. O's room to………………"

But her sentence was stopped short when a rather rude someone bumped into her from her side causing her to fumble a bit while she kept on going through the halls.

"Move it!" was all the person said instead of a proper apology but after watching the figure retreat down the halls, Kira realized that she didn't need an apology; she was a higher authority on the school food chain and "Move it" was probably the best apology she was going to get.

Panic ran through her nerves as she saw none other than Principal Randall pace down the hall and make her way to none other than her very own direction; Dr. Oliver's classroom.

Kira turned to look at Trent and he did the same before both of them made a mad dash down the hallway after her.

"Principal Randall, Principal Randall!" Trent cried as he and Kira caught up with her.

The vicious woman came to an abrupt pause in the middle of the hallway, whipping around to see just what it was that those two wanted. "What?" she asked, obviously having no patience for whatever it was they had to say.

"I um………………I um………….I………….." Trent fumbled, trying to find something to say to her. He hadn't really thought before he just blurted out her name and now he had no excuse prepared to give her.

"Out with it Fernandez!" she spat, not in the mood for foolishness.

"My um, dad wanted me to um………………thank you for letting him uh……………substitute a couple weeks ago……………..he uh……….he said it was a great experience." He lied.

"Trent, your father subbed here over 3 months ago"

"Right"

"So why are you telling me this now?"

"Well I uh…….just forgot and I remembered when I saw you in the halls" the Hispanic boy lied again.

"Mr. Fernandez, please refrain from stopping me in the halls with your useless comments and remarks." She said, pushing up the glasses on her face while Trent nodded slowly, trying to think of something else to distract her from Tommy's classroom. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to………….."

"Ms. Randall I think I saw two kids fighting in the front of the school" Kira said out of the blue, hoping that would steer her away from the classroom.

"Well tell the vice principal about it!" she snapped. "I have bigger fish to fry" she added before continuing down the halls, Trent and Kira following suit.

"But I really think you should check it out" she urged. "I think there was blood involved and with all due respect ma'am I think the last thing you want on your hands is a law suit"

The woman stopped again, turning around to face the two students and glared at both of them. "If there's blood involved then why are you still following me? Did I not tell you to go and get the vice principal?"

"Yes but………….."

"Don't talk, go!" she commanded. "The both of you!"

Continuing her way to the classroom, Kira and Trent were only left to stand there and eavesdrop from the corner of the hall, hoping Tommy didn't get in to much trouble.

"Dr. Oliver!" she boomed, swinging open the door and scaring the poor science teacher who was calmly eating his lunch at his desk.

"Yes Principal Randall" Tommy said, getting up out of his chair. "What can I help you with today?"

"What's this I hear about a baby in your classroom?"

The two teens inched closer to the room, hoping to get a better listen.

"What baby?" Tommy asked, trying to play stupid.

Looking around the room, Randall spotted baby Austin in his carrier fast asleep right next to Tommy's desk. Pointing a stern finger towards him and glaring at Tommy she replied, "That baby"

"Oh, heh, heh, that baby" Tommy said stalling a bit while he tried to get his excuse together.

"Dr. Oliver need I remind you that a baby on school premises is strictly forbidden and is against school policy."

"Well actually, with all due respect, I looked in the teacher hand book this morning and it didn't say anything about babies in classrooms."

"It forbids distracters in the class Mr. Oliver and _he_ is a distracter" she yelled, stirring baby Austin from his sleep.

"Well I've incorporated him in my lesson for today, you know so he wouldn't become a distracter so technically I wasn't breaking any school rules."

She glared at him harder as if that was at all possible. "Just who the hell is he Oliver?" she asked.

"He's my nephew. My sister couldn't watch over him today because she's sick and she asked me to do it. I couldn't tell her no because she's my only sister and she needed my help and I couldn't stay home because I've already used up all my sick days."

"So you decided to bring him here?" she asked.

"Please cope with me Ms. Randall, it seemed like my only option." He begged. "And besides, he hasn't been much of a distraction to the kids, he's been sleeping most of the time"

Adjusting her blouse and looking from Tommy to baby, Principal Randall pushed up her glasses once more and sighed to herself giving him a skeptical. "You know Mr. Oliver, if you were any other teacher I would have fired you right on the spot" she said and Tommy frowned opening his mouth to protest but she cut him off. "But, since you're actually good at you job—unlike the other staff at this school— I will allow this………..this……….thing to continue." She said. "But _only_ for today Mr. Oliver." She warned. "If I see something like this happen again, you can bet your job will be on the line, understood?"

"Right" Tommy said, nodding and looking at the ground; he hated looking directly in her eyes.

"Right" she repeated, before fixing her blouse once more and walking out the room, pausing when she saw Trent and Kira listening by the door but then shook her head and continued down the halls.

Once she was out of sight, the two teens made their way in, Kira greeting Tommy with a big hug. "Oh my God, thank you Dr. O, I thought we were done for back there." she praised after letting go from the embrace.

"You weren't alone" he said, letting go a sigh of relief and plopping back in his desk chair. He swore he was sprouting a patch of gray hairs form all the risks he was taking today.

"I'm sorry if I almost got you fired Dr. O" Kira apologized. "I didn't think it would go this far."

"It's ok. You know as much as I hate to admit it, I think Ethan was right about that crush thing. If it wasn't for that I would probably be fired by now" he said and the two teens laughed. "Tell Ethan that and your both dead" he added seriously and the two laughed again.

"Our lips are sealed" Trent promised.

Kira nodded in agreement before turning to Austin and grabbing the carrier that was sitting next to the desk, placing it on top of the table and taking him out so she could cuddle him.

"Oh my poor baby boy." She said rocking him back and forth in her arms. "Mama's baby is just causing a lot of trouble today aren't you?"

…….

"Oh my God, did you hear that Devin?" came a whisper from outside Tommy's open door clutching her pen and notepad in her hand.

"Ya I heard it Cassidy but so what? Dr. Oliver didn't get busted over the baby boom? Is that really a good story for the school paper?"

"No you nimrod, Kira just called Austin her "Baby boy"" she said smirking to herself as ideas brewed in her blonde little head. "Hold on to your hats Reefside because I think we have a new front page story among us"

………………………………..

Review!


	12. The Paper

A little Secret ch 12

……………………………….

Finally, the end of the day.

The rest of the day went by pretty smoothly, after Randall made her warning clear, Kira fed Austin his lunch and Tommy got a little control over his classes, things went by relatively smooth. And it was needless to say, that everyone (especially Tommy and Kira) were happy for that.

When the bell rang, dismissing the students from school, once more Kira began her journey to her science teacher's classroom, more ready than ever to pick up her son and get the heck out of there. Although Randall had already busted Tommy for his "class disturbance" act, she strangely felt that principal Randall giving Tommy a warning wasn't it for the day. She had this strange anxiety that something else was going to happen and she didn't want to stay around to find out.

"Hey, hey, hey where's the fire?" Ethan asked, pacing to catch up with her as Kira speed walked through the halls.

Kira turned to him and smiled, slowing her pace a bit as she walked along side her teammate. "Sorry Ethan, I just want to get out of here you know? Today felt like such a tiring day" she apologized.

"You're telling me. I feel bad for Dr. O though, he already had this phobia from Austin after the whole through-up thing and now he had to watch him for a whole day. Poor thing" he said and Kira laughed as they finally reached Tommy's room.

It was about the 5th time she's dropped by that classroom for that day but she didn't care, she wanted to make sure that everything was ok.

Opening the door and walking in, Kira smiled when she saw Trent and Conner already in the room along side their mentor, with Conner making silly faces at baby Austin and Tommy erasing the board and writing tomorrow's agenda in the corner.

"Hey there" she said as she came in and was greeted with Austin's smiles and bounces of excitement.

"Wow, someone's excited" Conner noted, getting a firm grip on the baby so he didn't fall out of his lap from all the bouncing.

"As he should be" Kira said taking him from Conner's arms and into his own. "Hey there little guy!" she cooed placing kisses all over his chubby body. "How are you? How is my little chulito? Are you good? Did you have fun with Dr. Oliver today?"

"Oh loads of fun, you should have seen him during planning period, he was laughing, giggling, playing games and having a conversation with him and everything" Trent said and Kira chuckled.

"Trent, the baby can't talk"

"Ya I know, I meant Dr. Oliver"

It was then that the white ranger found a chalk-filled black eraser slap him dead in the chest leaving a small rectangle of powder right where it hit.

He immediately whipped around to the chalk bored where Tommy was standing and glared at him while the others laughed and Tommy grinned. "Oops" the science teacher said, shrugging for effect. "Must have slipped out of my hand"

"Ha, ha, let the record show that for once it was Trent and not me" Conner said, laughing a little bit more to himself.

"Great" Trent said, looking down at his shirt and wiping some of the dust away. "This was my favorite shirt"

"Hey at least it wasn't through up" Ethan said which only caused a new wave of laughter from the teens as they remembered the predicament in the mall. Of course a glare was sent from Tommy as he found this to be completely un humorous and therefore another eraser went flying across the room and darted Ethan's blue shirt.

"Hey!" the blue ranger whined, looking at his shirt. "This is new"

"Ah, get some detergent, it'll come right out" Tommy said with a wave of his hand, finally setting down the chalk and dusting his hands off.

"Well, somebody's Mr. cranky" Conner said noticing his mentor's change of behavior. "What's wrong, one day babysitting has got your boxers in a twist?" he asked and Tommy glared harder, whipping back to the board to see if he had any more erasers left. "Hey man, you're out of weapons" Conner said ducking behind Ethan.

Tommy sighed, waving Conner off with a "whatever" and gathering his things at his desk. "I'll get you later, I'm to tired."

"He wasn't to much trouble was he?" Kira asked, beginning to get the diaper bag and things in order as well.

"No, not really he was fine but it was the students that where giving me a headache. All the chatter and the laughter was driving me A-wall."

"It was going on all day?" Ethan asked.

"All day" Tommy confirmed. "It got worse as the day went on because people were finding out about it and they were coming in here noisy and just would talk, talk, talk, talk, talk non-stop. By 7th period I gave up trying to teach the lesson"

"I'm sorry" Kira said feeling a little guilty that he teacher was having such a rough day. "I knew I should have just stayed home with him."

"No, Kira it's alright, I'm glad to do you the favor just please next time try to make the favor a little less noisy" he said and she chuckled some.

"Will do"

"So my yellow friend" Conner said, putting an arm around his teammate. "Wanna' head with Trent, Ethan and me to Haley's? We can work on that history assignment together"

"Ok Conner first of all it's Trent, Ethan and I" she corrected and the others laughed while Conner rolled his eyes. "And second, I can't, I have to go and try and find a baby-sitter for tomorrow"

"And what better place is there to look than Haley's?"

"The yellow pages?" Kira asked more than answered.

"Nonsense, you'll never find anyone that way. You know Haley's got that wall of Jobs, there are tons of people on there willing to baby-sit."

"Conner I don't think I know those people well enough to leave them with my son." She said, readjusting Austin on her shoulder.

"And the yellow pages is any better?"

"Well no but…………………"

"Exactly. C'mon Kira, you haven't been out in like forever."

"I just went out on Saturday"

"But before that"

Kira sighed to herself, it was obvious that Conner wasn't going to leave her alone about this so she might as well just head to Haley's for a quick moment.

"Alright but only for a little bit and if I don't find a babysitter in half an hour I'm out of there"

……………………………………..

The next day……………………….It was Tuesday now, which meant that it was another school day. Kira surprisingly had found someone to take care of Austin at the last minute and now she was able to go back to school worry free.

Well at least that's what she hopped.

Hopefully Dr. Oliver wouldn't be to mad at her for the babysitting issue yesterday and hopefully most of the rumors floating around died down among the school population.

Little did Kira know that now that is was a knew day, and a Tuesday no less when the school paper came out, Reefside High would have knew things to talk about.

……………………

As she walked onto campus with a smile on her face, she spotted Conner, Ethan, and Trent at their usual table on the school's front lawn and she began to make her way over.

But, as she passed by a few students on her way over, Kira was receiving dirty looks, giggling and even smart remarks behind her back. At first she thought she was just being paranoid but the more people she passed by, the more comments she was getting. People who were sitting across the school lawn were even pointing and sneering at her.

"_What the hell is going on here?"_ she thought to herself.

Setting her bag on the table were her friends sat, Kira sat down while still eying the student population suspiciously.

"Guys, do you know what's going on around here?" she asked her friends, greeting them with a question rather than her usual hello.

"What do you mean?" Trent asked, to engrossed his drawings to pay attention to everyone else.

"Everyone's been looking at me funny since I got here" she explained.

"What are you talking about? People haven't been looking at you funny" Ethan said.

As soon as those words left his lips, a group of girls passed by and stopped and looked at Kira before giggling and walking away.

"Then what the hell was that?" she asked.

"Maybe you sat in chocolate. That happened to me once and everyone laughed at me" Conner suggested.

"Conner don't be silly I didn't…………………." getting up really fast and checking the back of her pants, Kira finished her statement. "Sit in any chocolate"

Just then to more girls walked by, both of them sneering at the poor yellow ranger before one of them got up the courage to mutter, "Whore" and then walk away.

Kira's mouth dropped open in awe and she fought the urge to attack the girl right then and there.

"What the hell?" she exclaimed. "What's going on around here? Did I just make Girls Gone Wild or something? Why is everyone laughing at me?"

"Don't be silly" Conner said. "If you made Girls Gone Wild, people would not be laughing at you"

The yellow ranger took this time to glare at her teammate. "Conner you…………"

"Whoa!" Ethan interrupted, looking at his computer screen in amazement, not being able to tear his eyes off what he just saw.

"What?" Trent asked.

"Um, Kira, I think I know what's going on here" he cringed while reading the harsh words that were displayed across his monitor.

"What? What is it?" she asked, moving over to Ethan's side of the table so she could get a better look but he abruptly shut it so she couldn't see. "Ethan!" she exclaimed.

"Uhh, maybe we should read this were there are a little less witnesses, if you do something illegal, I wouldn't want you to get caught." He suggested.

"Oh c'mon it's not that bad is it?"

"Oh trust me, it is" he reassured.

"Let's go to Dr. Oliver's room" Trent suggested

…………………………..

After an agonizing 3 minute trip to their mentor's room, with Kira nagging Ethan the whole way to see what was on his laptop and her ignoring the hateful comments from other students, they finally reached 1st period science.

Once they opened the door they were met with Tommy sitting at his desk, perusing worriedly over the school newspaper and as soon as he saw his students come in, he shoved the paper in the drawer of his desk.

"Oh hey guys how's it going?" Tommy said rather quickly, trying to act as though he wasn't doing anything the whole time.

"Not so good" Kira admitted. "Everyone at school has been giving me weird looks all day and Ethan found out why and he won't show me"

Tommy sighed glancing at his blue protégé who looked like he really didn't want to show her why. After reading the school newspaper, Tommy knew good and well why the student population was treating Kira different but that didn't mean that it would be the easiest of things to tell her.

"Dr. O, do you know why everyone's looking at me weird."

Knowing that his mentor knew the answer, Ethan shot Tommy a look of "Please don't make me tell her" and Tommy sighed, retrieving the newspaper from his desk.

"Yes Kira" he admitted. "I do"

"Well what is it? People have been calling me names and laughing at me all morning"

"Well………………."Tommy began. "It might have something to do with this" he said, handing the school newspaper over to her.

Both Ethan and Tommy cringed as Kira unfolded the newspaper and Trent and Conner waited in anxiousness from what it read.

As Kira read the title of the front page article and looked at the picture taking up about 60 percent of the page, her mouth fell agape.

There in big bold letters read, _Teen mom walks among us_, followed by a picture of her holding Austin while by her car from the previous day.

Kira felt her heart drop to her toes and her whole body just went into a state of shock. She absolutely did not know what to do at that point. She couldn't think, she couldn't react, she could hardly even breathe. Just how in the world did her secret get out? Who told?

Browsing over the article that continued onto the next page, she fell into even more shock as she read lie, after lie that was slowly diminishing her reputation. The article contained fibs like how she supposedly paid Dr. Oliver a large amount of money to watch over her son the day before, or how she got kicked out of her home because her parents couldn't stand seeing her pregnant and how Austin was growing up without a father because of Kira's rebellious nature and her not knowing who the father could be. And the next page was followed by a picture of Kira at her job with a caption explaining about how she flaunted her "assets" and used her tips to get by and feed her baby.

As Kira dropped the paper, she could feel tears stinging her eyes and although she wasn't much of the tear shedding type, this hurtful paper gave her a reason to let a couple fall.

All of her worst fears were coming true, now everyone knew. Everyone knew about her house, her job and her baby. Everything she's worked so hard to keep a secret and try to maintain a normal life has been thrown down the toilet with this awful paper.

She didn't understand. What did she do wrong? What did she do to deserve this?

"Kira?" Trent asked began, approaching her with caution. If he knew Kira well she would lash out with anger from this type of thing and the last thing he wanted to do was get struck with one of her powerful punches. "Are you alright?"

"No" she muffled, keeping her head to the floor as she finally let some tears go and tried to resist, a total melt down.

"Kira I…………."

"How could they do this to me" she cried, not being able to resist. This was the final straw; everything was gone now. Everything she's worked so hard to keep hidden in the dark was released; and it was released as a monster. Her parents hated her, she despise her job, she was fighting to maintain a regular life style while keeping up with her ranger duty and now her school reputation was destroyed. Why would some one do this to her? Why would they destroy her life like this? Was the whole world out to get her?

Turning around and burring her head in Trent's chest, Kira cried her little eyes out while she mumbled incoherent things to herself about life not being fair.

At first Trent was a little shocked at this because he really didn't expect to see her react like this. Kira wasn't really the crying type. He really expected to see his teammate, bash his head into the ground and destroy a couple things around the room but instead she resorted to tears. This was not Kira. This was not Kira at all. And if she resorted to crying, he knew for sure that she was seriously disturbed by this and he therefore offered his shoulder for her to cry on.

"Shhh, shhh, it's going to be ok" he comforted, embracing her in a hug.

"No it's not, no it's not, no it's not" she protested.

"You'll be fine Kira" Tommy said, rubbing her back in reassurance. "We'll handle this, once step at a time" he said.

"How?" she wailed. "I mean everything that I've tried to keep to myself for so long is let out to the whole freaking school! And now everyone thinks I'm a whore because of this stupid article!"

"I'm sure _everyone_ doesn't think that" Conner said.

"Ya, we don't think it" Ethan added.

Trent glared at the both of them for their attempts at helping which was clearing not working.

"Because you guys are the only one's who know the truth!" she said, still crying into Trent's chest. "I mean who would write this stuff. Who would make up all these lies and put them in a freaking school newspaper? What kind of sick joke is……………………"

She suddenly stopped when the answer to her questions, popped into her head. Honestly, who else could print such cruel and untrue lies in the school newspaper and get away with it? Who else would snoop into other people's lives just to get a good story and put herself at the top of the food chain. Who else enjoyed the sick pleasure of watching other people's live get ruined in front of the public eye?

There was only one. Reefside's nosiest and Reefside's snootiest,

"Cassidy Cornell" they all said in unison.

……………………………….

Review!!!


	13. Eleanor Roosevelt

A little secret ch 13

………………………………

The late bell rang and students began filing in, Cassidy and Devin included. Just like yesterday, whispers began buzzing around the room only this time it was about what was read in the paper and not from what was on Tommy's desk.

People began to point and giggle, whisper and mutter rude things towards Kira and this ultimately caused her to ride low in her chair to try and save herself from any further embarrassment. Her eyes were red from her crying frenzy this morning and the last thing she wanted right now was for her classmates to see her tear struck face and red puffy eyes.

As one of her fellow classmates passed by her table she stopped for a brief moment to ridicule the teen mother. "Hey Kira, you know who the father is?" she teased, giggling to herself and Kira only rode lower in her chair to try and avoid answering her.

Trent, who also sat at Kira's table, took this moment to respond. "Fuck off" he snapped, watching as the girl sneered at him before taking her seat at a table in the back. Trent wasn't normally one for such vulgarity, he was pretty much a nice guy all around, but seeing something like this happen to a girl as good-hearted as Kira made him angry. She did nothing to deserve this and if anything, her taking on the responsibility of mothering a baby was to help the life of someone else. The students had no right to know her personal life, make up lies about her and then tease her about her state of being.

Kira glanced over to Trent and mouthed a small "thank you"

"Ok, ok class settle down, settle down" Tommy said, trying to gain control over the gossip floating around the room. Slowly but surely the whispering came to a halt but Tommy knew that all the attention was still drawn to his yellow clad protégé.

"Now, we're going to continue were we left off from yesterday and move on to the further stages of life. Now next we have…………….."

"Motherhood?" Marco, the jock who teased Kira the day before, blurted out and the class burst into a fit of giggles while Tommy gave him a disapproving look.

"Marco, I don't tolerate calling out in class so consider this your warning"

"Sorry Dr. Oliver" he replied, although he didn't really mean it. Picking on the new school freak was just to much fun.

"Now as I was saying, the next stage in the stages of life that were going to learn about it adolescence. So if you could please open your books to page 301 we can continue the reading and………………………..Yes Cassidy?"

"Excuse me Dr. Oliver, I had a question about yesterday's lesson that I forgot to ask."

Tommy sighed. He had a feeling that this was going to take a turn for the worst but if he knew Cassidy, refusing to address her question would probably result in a visit to Randall's office. "Yes Cassidy"

"Well I was wondering if you could repeat that whole lecture on safe sex that you told us yesterday because I'm not sure that _some of us_ quite got the memo." she said emphasizing her question more to Kira that to Dr. Oliver.

Instead of giggling, the class chorused an "Oooohhhhh" which was typically heard amongst the students when someone shot off an insult.

"Cassidy enough" Tommy warned.

"What, I didn't do anything wrong." She defended ever so sweetly. "I'm just concerned about our fellow students. I just want to make sure that we're all conducting ourselves in normal teenage behaviors instead of sleeping with random partners, and parading around in skimpy outfits at local strip joints." She added. "And Kira, since you seem to know so much about this stuff, maybe you can help Dr. Oliver and the class out and give us tips on what not to do. I'm sure it'll be great for my segment in next weeks paper about proper teen behaviors."

The class released another "Ohhhh" this time longer, louder and accompanied by a few "Burns" and giggles, and Kira however, glared daggers at Cassidy fighting the tears that were stinging her eyes. Normally she'd be pissed beyond hell right now, to the point where she wanted to drop kick Cassidy, squish her with her Zord and feed her remains to Mesagog but she was too hurt right now to think about such things.

"Cassidy _enough_" Tommy ordered more sternly. "One more and you're headed to Randall's office"

"But it's not my fault Dr. Oliver." She defended. "I'm just trying to protect Reefside High from getting another teen mother, that's all. And besides, I'm not the one who stripped my clothes off and slept with multiple men"

That was it, she couldn't take it anymore. Only 5 minutes into class and she was being ridiculed beyond belief. She knew it would be her worst nightmare to have her secrets revealed and now that they have she was experiencing hell.

Not being able to hold in her tears any longer, Kira let go of a brief, "Excuse me" to Dr. Oliver before fleeing from the classroom with her head hung low so the class couldn't see her tears.

"That's it Cassidy, pack you're things and head to Ms. Randall's office"

"But I……….."

"Now!"

……………………………………

Running to the girl's bathroom, Kira dashed into one of the stalls and locked it closed, plopping her self on the toilet and bawling her eyes out.

The reality of everything that was going on was such a whirlwind to her she didn't know how to react except to cry. For so long she's tried to keep these secrets locked in for the fear of what was happening now. But now that she had to tackle her fear head on she didn't know what to do.

Kira was generally a strong person. She was confident, witty, secure, and not afraid to stand up for what she believed in; or at least she used to be. Ever since her parents became drunks, she's been putting up a front and trying to be the person she once was but it was all just a mask. Truth be told she was hurt, frightened, scared, and her self-esteem had gone down the toilet. Her parents had told her some pretty mean things when they weren't sober and kicking her out of the house didn't make it any better.

She never wanted her friends to know what was really going on with her so she pretended to be strong, pretended to be confident and brave so they wouldn't suspect a thing.

But bottling it all in seemed to bring negative effects. Her self-esteem and her confidence was slowly depleting piece by piece as the days went on as stress from school work, ranger duty and keeping all her secrets were pressured on her. Memories of what her parents told her about being worthless and never being able to raise a baby floated through her mind everyday and it didn't help her situation any.

And now, now with all her secrets out and all her worst fears come to life, Kira didn't know right from left. Her mask was broken. She was no longer the strong girl anymore, she was weak and nowhere close to emotionally stable. The thoughts of worthlessness and being a bad mother were taking over and she didn't know if she could stop them.

Suddenly an abrupt "What are you doing in here?" From one of the other girls in the stalls brought her out of her thoughts.

"Oh um, actually Principal Randall sent me in here" came an unsure reply. It was Conner, Kira could recognize the tone of his voice even if she was deaf. "She wants all girls to report to clinic immediately for an important _girl talk._ And if I were you I'd get the fast, from what I heard from the other girls she's giving out free make-up"

At the mention of the word, make-up, the girl jetted out of the bathroom at the speed of light and Conner could only chuckle to himself before pressing on to more important matters.

"Kira" he said, knocking on the stall where he saw her Nike sneakers poking out from.

"Go away" she sniffled.

"C'mon, open up"

"I don't want to talk about it ok?"

"Are you sure about that?"

There was a period of silence before the stall opened and Kira burst into a new set of tears, wailing into Conner's chest and soaking up his red jersey.

"It's not fair, it's just not fair!" she cried. "What did I ever do to deserve this?"

"Nothing"

"So why is she doing this to me?"

"Kira, Cassidy's a bitch, we all know that"

"It's not a good enough explanation Conner I mean, now everyone in school thinks I'm a some street slut"

"But you're not. Hey c'mon Kira, you used to never care about what people thought of you, what happened?"

"My parent's happened" she mumbled.

"What?"

"Look Conner it doesn't matter, everything is just going downhill. I hate my job, I have to find a new babysitter for Austin, I'm failing as a mother because I barely spend time with him and now my school reputation is ruined."

"Kira you know you can turn to any one of us for help. The last thing we want to do is see you suffer."

"How can you guys help Conner? There's nothing you can do"

"Look, Ethan, Trent and I would be more than happy to baby-sit for you while you're at work, that way you can spend less money on a baby-sitter during the days. And I'm sure Haley would love to give you a job at the café, then you could………."

"I don't want to be a charity case Conner. That would be asking to much of you guys."

"Kira, when people offer you help you can't just keep pushing it all away. I know that you're mind is telling you, _I don't need help, I don't need help_, but you're eyes say something different." He said. "You try and give off the impression that you have everything under control but you're eyes are screaming for help and you can't keep pushing it away every time it comes near. And if you keep doing that and bottling up all this stress and emotions inside, when things like what happened today go down, it's gonna bring some nasty results."

"Every time I get help it just comes to bite me in ass. I mean my parents……………"

"We're not you're parents Kira, we're you're friends. We want nothing more than to help you and see you happy again"

"Ya well what about school. How can you help me with school" she sniffled.

"My Grandma used to tell me this every time I had problems in school when I was younger, and it's helped me a lot now, especially with being the leader of the rangers."

"What's that?"

"_Nadie le puede hacer se siente inferior sin su consentimiento" (No one can make you feel inferior without your consent _Eleanor Roosevelt)

Kira smiled a weak smile. "Eleanor Roosevelt said that" she stated.

Conner nodded.

"Yeah, and I never really understood what it meant until secondary school when I started to get picked on. But you know what, I remember what my grandma told me and I found out that, it's true. If you just brush all the talk and rumors and gossip off your shoulders then it won't get to you. Because you know the truth and you know what's really going on."

"It's so hard" she said.

"I know" Conner said. "But I'll help you, I promise"

Kira smiled, hugging her red teammate. For a guy who lost a good portion of his brain cells from hammering a soccer ball into his head 500 times a day, he sure knew how to make people feel better.

"Thanks Conner"

"No problem"

…………………………………

As the two of them returned to class, they found that it was dead quiet inside and after viewing the students reading from their textbooks, they both sat down at their respective tables and pulled out the books from under their chairs.

"What are we doing?" Conner whispered to Ethan

"Reading all of ch 9 and answering all the questions that follow."

"Oh, thanks. What did I miss?"

"A hell of a lot dude" Ethan whispered in excitement.

"Really what happened?"

"While Cassidy was packing up more students were making fun of Kira and Dr. O, threatened them with detention for anyone who said anything else about the issue. Them Marco made a comment about him being Kira's lover and he blew up at him and the rest of the class and sent Marco down to Randall's office with a referral and a detention."

Conner's eyes went wide. "Really?"

"Really. I don't think I've ever seen Dr. O so angry in my life"

"Did his ears turn red?"

"Dude, they nearly exploded."

"Whoa"

"Yeah, and now he gave us this busy work and he says the next one who talks is going to Randall's office with a suspension form, no questions asked."

Just as those words, left his lips, Tommy called out his name. "Ethan" he said prepared to write up a suspension form for his own protégé.

"Just debriefing Conner on the assignment Dr. O" the computer geek explained and Tommy sighed.

"No more talking please" he said.

As Ethan went back to work, Tommy took this time to make his way over to Kira's table, crouching down to her eye level and check on her status.

"You ok?" he whispered to her and she nodded, while fumbling in her bag to try and find a sheet of pen.

"You sure? Because if you want you can……."

"I'm fine Dr. O, really" she assured him, looking him in the eye this time.

Tommy sighed not buying her excuse one bit. He knew Conner went after her, to give her a little pep talk, but he didn't think that it helped any. Sure she might have been reassured of a few things but that didn't stop the situation now at this very moment and regardless of what he might have said, she was still hurting inside.

"If there's anything I can do Kira, just…………………"

"Dr. Oliver!" came a stern and rather abrupt cry from the intercom hanging under the classroom clock. It was principal Randall for she was the only one who interrupted a classroom so rudely.

Tommy sighed, rolling his eyes and turning to face the intercom so the principal couldn't hear him properly. "Yes Ms. Randall"

"Would you please send Ms. Kira Ford down to my office" she ordered before shutting off the communication between them.

The class made an "OOOooooo" chorus this time that was often heard when someone was in trouble and Tommy sighed again, turning back to his yellow protégé. "Well at least she said please this time" he mumbled. "Go on Kira"

And as Kira got up our of her chair and began to head out the door, all she could think was. "What has Cassidy done now?"

……………………………………

Review!!!!


	14. Expelled

A little secret ch 14

………………………………

Sighing to herself and raising her hand to knock on the door, Kira tried wiping away any residue from her tears earlier that morning, not wanting Principal Randall to see any clues of her crying. Principal Randall had this radar like ability to be able to sniff out fear, and once she knows you're at you're lowest point, she pounces on you like a cheetah on a wildebeest. She was a mean Principal, with strict rules and an aggressive attitude, and after this morning's paper, Kira knew whatever she had to tell her, would not be good.

Just as she was about to knock on the dreaded Principal's door, it opened before she had a chance to touch it, and out walked Cassidy Cornell. Both girls locked eyes as Cassidy passed by, Kira glaring daggers at her and Cassidy smirking to herself and throwing a smug look at Kira. The call of "Please come in Ms. Ford" interrupted the two from starring any longer, and Kira just rolled her eyes, walking into the Principal's office and closing the door.

Looking around Randall's office, she saw that the room was exceptionally tidy, and the room smelled like fresh lilac. She had never really expected this, seeing as she's never been in the principal's office and the Principal was such a cruel lady. She had honestly expected a scattered mess everywhere, the room smelling of pure evil (sort of like Mesagog's lair) and a dartboard over the door with student's pictures in the bull's eye.

But wasn't like that at all. It looked like an average Principal's office, tan walls, and peach carpet, a desk and two chairs in front of it with the occasional plant or pictures in the corners. But the only exception to the serene room was the fear radiating off of Kira's body for whatever she was about to receive from the cruel dictator.

"Please Ms. Ford, have a seat" Randall said, probably the nicest thing she was going to say the whole conference, but Kira complied anyway, taking a seat at once of the chairs in front of her desk.

As Randall looked up from the newspaper that was on her desk, she removed her glasses and all hope that this meeting could possibly be about something else other than the newspaper was lost from poor Kira. Now she knew she was in for it. Whatever it was.

"Ms. Ford," the principal began, now looking at the student in front of her. "I'm not one to stall so let's cut to the chase here." She said. "I'm assuming by your tear-stained cheeks, that you already had a look at this weeks paper?"

Kira nodded solemnly. "Yes maim" she said. Damn that radar of hers.

"Right" she said, folding her arms across her desk. "Well then you do realize, after reading this material, I am in full authority to expel you from my school?"

That one had caught her off guard. "What?" she asked. What did she mean that she was going to expel her? She hadn't done anything wrong. Suddenly adopting a baby was against the student code of conduct? "What do you mean expelled?" she asked. "What did I do wrong?"

"Ms. Ford, with a………..spontaneous nature like this, I'm afraid that you'll be setting a bad example for our students."

Setting a bad example? She didn't realize she was the school's role model. But she wouldn't dare say that aloud to Randall, she was still terrified of the lady.

"But Ms. Randall…………."

"No buts Ms. Ford, I'm afraid I simply just can't allow it. Sleeping around with countless men, getting pregnant, and then continuing that nature to feed a baby is just to extreme for this High School"

"Ms. Randall you have to believe me, those things aren't true; Cassidy made them all up" she defended.

Randall scoffed. "Oh really? So then, where did she get all these photos?"

Kira shrugged, "I don't know, they could have been digitally altered." She tried.

"Right, and next you're going to tell me that you adopted the baby right?"

"I di…………." Kira stopped right there. There was no way in hell that she was going to believe that she adopted Austin; whether it was the truth or not.

"Ms. Ford is it not true that you have a job at _Daisy's Gall grill?"_ she asked.

"Yes but………"

"And is it not true that you have that job to pay for your apartment in the city?"

"Yes but…………….."

"And is it not true Ms. Ford that you have a 9 month old son?"

_"7 months"_ she corrected mentally. Kira gave a defeated sigh. "Yes maim" she replied. There was no use fighting it; the evil dictator had her mind made up.

"Then I rest my case Ms. Ford."

She could feel the tears forming in her eyes once more, as once again, she could not believe her luck. It had only taken three days; three small days before her life had gotten completely screwed over. She knew she was better off keeping her secret to herself. She should have never opened her big mouth.

"Ms. Randall please" Kira begged, hoping that the principal would show a little sympathy on the count of her tears. "I'm begging you, please don't kick me out of school. I need school, I just…………I can't…………..please don't"

"I'm sorry Ms. Ford" Randal said, stone cold emotionless face, meeting Kira's tear-struck one. "But, as principal I am inclined to do what's best for Reefside High, and having a girl of your nature is not best for this school. I'm afraid I'm going to have to sign you out."

"But what about graduation! It's my senior year and there's only 2 months of school left."

"I took the liberty of contacting Reefside County School Board, and they've enrolled you in a few online courses as well as courses that will come by mail. That is, if you choose to do them. All the information is right here." She said, pushing a manila colored folder in Kira's direction. "I tried contacting you're parents earlier and they seemed to have no interest in coming down here to meet with me, so luckily for you, you're 18 years of age already, and can legally sign this withdrawal paper from Reefside."

"And what if I refuse?" she asked. If she didn't sign the paper then she could still attend school couldn't she?

"Then I'm afraid I'm going to have to call the authorities. As of now, you are no longer a Reefside High student"

Shaking her head as more tears escaped her eyes, Kira angrily grabbed the pen that was lying next to the withdrawal paper, and scribbled her signature on the line provided, then pushed both pen and paper back into Randall's direction.

Randall seemed to smirk smugly to herself; it was a very small smirk but a smirk nonetheless as honestly, she could care less if she expelled a student from Reefside. To her it just meant one less snot-nosed teenager to watch over.

"Thank you Ms. Ford. Now you may grab your things from Dr. Oliver's classroom and you're free to go home"

Not even muttering so much as a good bye, Kira grabbed the folder that Randall had given her and fled the office, tears streaming down her face like a waterfall as the circumstances finally weighed upon her.

She couldn't believe she, Kira Ford, had gotten kicked out of high school. She had gotten kicked out! For a dumb story that was all make-believe and for doing a community service and adopting a child in need. Go figure. She wondered why her life was such a mess, why it seemed that everyone was out to get her. Her parents kicked her out, she had a demeaning job just to pay the bills, she currently had no babysitter and now, she had gotten kicked out of school.

Why were all these negative things happening to her? When would she get a little bit of reprieve and finally be happy again.

She didn't know the answer. And that of course led to more frustration and more negative thinking until finally, her oppression turned into rage.

She became angry at her parents for becoming waste less drunks and ruining her life, angry at her boss and all the costumers in her job for making the job more demeaning than it had to be, and angry at Cassidy Cornell for writing that article that got her kicked out of school.

She could feel all the anger boiling to the top of her emotional thermometer, to the point where she couldn't hold it in anymore. She wanted to scream right then and there at the top of her lungs and blast open all the windows and doors with her Petra Scream, destroying a good portion of the school and probably leaving a good 75 percent of the student body, tone deaf. She wanted to yell, she wanted to curse, she wanted to through a temper tantrum, she wanted to let everyone who had hurt her, know how much that had destroyed her life.

She wanted revenge.

…………………………….

After Kira had cleaned herself up in the bathroom, she was mindlessly, walking the halls, slowly making her way back to Dr. Oliver's room to grab her things. She was not looking forward to going back to his classroom, seeing as how she'd have to explain to him why she was leaving and give the class (and eventually the whole school) another reason to mock and laugh at her. But she knew that time would come eventually as her time at Reefside was up, so she might as well get it over and done with.

Just as she rounded the corner into another hallway, the bell rang throughout the school, signaling the end of 1st period. Students began flooding the hallways, and just like this morning, the pointing, the snickering and the laughter were following the poor yellow ranger like a spiteful shadow.

She ignored it however and continued her journey to Dr. Oliver's classroom, sulking to herself as she continued to think about her expulsion.

It was then, that Ethan, Trent and Conner had spotted her, walking towards the classroom and just as they were about to call out her name, Kira's hazel eyes had landed on Cassidy Cornell a few yards away, looking in her locker mirror, and straightening her make-up.

She could feel the rage, building in her once more as she watched the girl responsible for getting her kicked out of school, act as though nothing had happened.

The urge to scream was returning once again, but this time instead of relying on wishful thinking, Kira decided to address the problem and have a one on one with Cassidy right then and there.

She made her way over to the blonde news reporter, and angrily slammed her locker, scaring the socks off of Cassidy and rudely grabbing her attention.

Once Cassidy recognized who was in front of her, she scoffed and rolled her eyes, picking up her pink bag that was lying on the floor.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Reefside's slut." She said, now fixating her attention on her nails. "What do you want now?" she asked. "If you're looking for a quick fix you've got the wrong girl, I'm not into that stuff" she said.

"That's not funny Cassidy" Kira said, fire burning in her eyes.

"Oh whatever. The truth hurts honey, if you can't handle it, then maybe you should quit your life of crime while you're ahead"

"Cassidy, all that stuff is fake, you made it all up, it's not true!" Kira yelled.

By now, she was drawing the attention of a crowd, as everyone in High school knows that two girls arguing could eventually lead to a chick brawl.

Looking around at the gathering crowd Cassidy knew this was the time to make a scene. She knew Kira was angry and would do anything to push her to the limit to get a good story. Watching as Devin made his way through, she sent him a subtle signal, letting him know that this was worthy to get on film.

"Sweetheart, I didn't make anything up. I only report the truth." She said going along with the game.

"No you don't!" Kira yelled, now giving her a little shove into the lockers now. The crowd waved off a small "oh" and Kira fumed. She knew that Cassidy was only putting on a show for the crowd and it was beginning to make her boil over. "You made all that shit up Cassidy and you're little stunt got me expelled from school! You've ruined my life"

"Oh boo-hoo, cry me a freaking river" the blonde bombshell said with an eye roll. "You're acting like the whole world is out to get you. Grow up Kira"

"No the whole world isn't out to get me, it's just you! Because you're an evil girl Cassidy, you're a bitch!" she cried.

"And you're a slut" she fired back as the crowd gave off another "oh". "And you'll probably be nothing more. So why don't you just go home to that baby of yours and have yourself a good cry Kira. Because you're not welcome here anymore; Reefside doesn't accept whores."

That was it; Kira had enough. Before the crowd of students could even respond with another "Oh" Kira landed a punch on Cassidy, square in the face, knocking the poor girl helplessly to the floor.

One would think that a sock that hard was worth it, seeing as how, the blond had cried out in agony and had clutched her face but Kira was far from over, as she pounced on top of her and began throwing punch after punch, hitting Cassidy with each of them and letting all go of her frustration bit by bit with each blow.

Though she wasn't using all her strength, (as her dino gem abilities would have probably killed the girl), Kira was still hitting Cassidy pretty hard and the reporter had no way in witch to defend herself, other than pulling Kira's hair. She had managed to scratch Kira right below her left eye once but that didn't even come close to stopping the yellow ranger in her fury.

Unfortunately for her, and fortunately for Cassidy, someone was strong enough to stop her and a strong pair of muscular arms had wrapped themselves around Kira's torso and had heaved her off of Cassidy, only leaving the enraged teen to flail her arms wildly as if she was still punching her enemy.

"Let me go! Let me go!" Kira cried, paying no attention to who it was that was pulling her away. "Let me go so I can kick her ass!"

"Kira, I think you did enough of that." Came the concerned response of Ethan, as he was the one who had pulled her off. "Now c'mon before you get in even more trouble than you already are."

With that said, Ethan had set Kira on the floor, still holding her by the arm though, as Trent took the other arm and Conner guided her from behind, the three boys taking her away from the scene and to Dr. Oliver's classroom.

But Kira wasn't done yet, she tried her best to escape from her friends and go back to Cassidy, ready to serve her another whooping. But when she found that wasn't working she resorted to yelling, calling Cassidy all sorts of names and derogatory terms as her friends took her away.

Meanwhile as she was being dragged away, Devin, being the only one who wasn't laughing or gossiping about Cassidy getting "whooped", shuffled through the crowd to get to his friend, and helped her up off the floor, cringing at the sight of her messy hair, disoriented make-up, forming bruises and open cuts.

"Eh, Cassidy, are you alright?" he asked, almost afraid to.

"No I'm not alright you idiot!" she snapped at him, trying her best to fix her hair. "No open my locker and get me my mirror now"! she ordered and Devin, got right to work, twisting the pad lock to her locker combination and opening up her locker while the crowd began to head to their classes, gossip buzzing like an angry bee as they went.

…………………………

The boys had finally managed to get Kira to Dr. Oliver's room after dodging one or two administrators and were relieved to find that the room was empty. Still guiding their teammate, they brought her in and closed, the door, interrupting their science teacher from writing the agenda on the board for his next class.

"I hate her! I hate her! Cassidy's a bitch!" Kira cried, still yelling the whole time she was being dragged to Dr. Oliver's classroom.

"Kira what's gotten into you?" Trent asked her once they closed the door. "Are you out of your mind? Are you trying to get suspended?"

"Guys, what's going on?" Tommy asked, setting down the chalk and walking towards his students, trying to analyze what that situation was.

"Kira got into a fight" Ethan informed and at this Tommy went wide-eyed, not believing what he just heard.

"You did what?!" he asked his yellow prodigy. "Kira are you insane? Who the hell did you fight?"

"Cassidy" Conner answered for her.

"Kira" Tommy began, about to start one of his lectures about when and where it was appropriate to fight and when not. "You know better then this, I taught you better then this, what's gotten into you?" he asked.

"Cassidy's a bitch! I hate her!" she yelled, still engulfed with rage and fury.

"Kira, despite your feelings toward Cassidy, you can get into some serious trouble for fighting and you know that. If……no when Randall finds out she's going to suspend you."

"I already got expelled" she said calmly this time. Calming down from her hype and feeling the tears setting back in, Kira sighed and shook her head in shame.

"That's no reason to…………………….what?" Tommy asked, just catching what she said.

"I got expelled" Kira repeated, sitting on one of the chairs and trying to wipe her eyes free off the tears that were about to come.

The boys were in just as much shock as Tommy was, each of them exchanging looks of astonishment and confusion.

"What do you mean you got expelled?" Ethan asked. "What the hell did you do?"

"Randall read the newspaper and she said that someone with a reckless behavior like mine shouldn't be allowed on campus so she expelled me. She said it was best for the school and I wasn't setting a good example"

"But it's not true" Conner refuted. "Did you tell her, it's not true?"

"It doesn't matter Conner, she didn't believe me." She said. "Now my whole life is ruined"

………………………………


	15. I'm ok

A little secret ch 15

Hey there readers I'm back with another chapter!! Weeeee! Lol. Sorry it took so long for the update,, I had to re-write this about 7 times before I finally decided I liked it. Lol. I just hope you do to, review and let me know!

………………………………

It was around 11:30 when Kira had finally cooled off.

She had let a few of her frustrated tears go in Doctor Oliver's classroom, then she had followed his advice and went home to take a relaxing shower and try to get her mind off things.

She was surprised a warm shower had worked as well as it did because she hadn't had a relaxing shower in a very long time. Most of the time, she rushed to take a shower because she couldn't leave Austin by himself for a long, but this shower was warm, relaxing and a real relief off her shoulders. Not to say that she still wasn't stressed about the whole issue at school, she was, but a calming shower had made her feel so much better.

Changing into some shorts and a yellow tank, Kira threw her hair up in a messy bun and slipped into some of her house slippers, beginning to dig around in her book bag for her car keys. She figured if she was going to be home, she might as well spend some time with her son.

Digging through the mounds of paper, pencils and folders, she heard a knock at the front door, and she paused from her digging, wondering what type of visitors she could have at this time of day.

"I'm coming" she called to whoever it was at the front door, discontinuing her search for her car keys and making her way over to greet them.

Opening the series of locks and keys, Kira pulled open the door to surprisingly find her beloved Uncle standing there, holding her son.

It was needless to say that Kira was speechless because not only was she happy to see her Uncle, (as he seemed to be the only family member who gave a rats ass about her) but, he was holding her 7-month-old son which confused her because he was supposed to be at the babysitters.

Kira gave him a befuddled look and he returned the favor followed by a sheepish grin.

"Uncle Jason?" she asked rather than greeted, still wondering why he had Austin in his arms. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh you know, the usual. Just making a special delivery." He said handing Austin, who was more than delighted to be reunited with his mother, over to her. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in school?"

Kira sighed, rolling her eyes. Did he really need to bring that up? "It's a long story. Come in, come in." she said, opening the door wide enough to allow him in.

Jason complied while setting the diaper bag that was slung over his shoulder on the floor by the door and walking into Kira's apartment, sitting on the sofa in the living room.

"Ok two questions" Kira began, following her uncle. "One, when did you come to town and two, why did you have my son?"

Jason chuckled. "Me and Kat got here yesterday, we were planning on paying an old friend of ours a surprise visit. But I decided to drop by and see how you were."

"Oh" Kira said nodding. That made all the sense in the world. And now for the second part.

"And as for Austin well, I came into the building and I was walking to your apartment door too see if you were home but this lady beats me too it asking me if I was Austin's father. I told her no, I'm just his Uncle and she said good enough and just passed him and the diaper bag to me, mumbling something about rotten children and their teen mothers" he explained causing Kira to give him another eye roll.

That's the last time she got a last minute baby-sitter; she should have known better. She only thanked God that she was home because she could only imagine what the babysitter would have done if she weren't.

"Oh Jesus Lord" she said, bouncing Austin up and down a little bit on her lap. Life really couldn't get any more stressful than it was now.

"Are you ok?" Jason asked. "You look stressed." He pointed out.

"_Interesting choice of words there Uncle Jase._" Kira thought. _"You try juggling work, school, ranger work and a baby and see how you feel"_

"I am" she said aloud.

"What's wrong?" Jason asked. "I mean, well you know, other than the whole baby thing, what's eatin' ya?" he added.

"School" she answered plain and simple.

"School?" he asked. "What's wrong with school? Are your grades dropping? Is that why you're not at school?"

Kira sighed. "No." she replied.

"So what is it?"

Getting up and retrieving a bottle from the diaper bag that was still on the floor Kira replied nonchalantly "I got kicked out," before sitting back on the sofa and feeding the bottle to Austin.

Jason was just as at a loss of words like Kira was when she opened the door and found him standing there with her son. What did she mean she got kicked out? Kira was such a good student, how could she get expelled from school?

"What do you mean you got kicked out?!" "Jason exclaimed. "What did you do?"

Kira sighed. "It's a long complicated story but in a nutshell the school found out about Austin through this bitch in the school newspaper, she made up a whole bunch of lies. The principal saw it and thought I was a bad influence so she kicked me out" she answered. "Then to make matters worse, I fought the girl who wrote the paper. The principal didn't see the fight but I'm sure she found out by now."

Flabbergasted again, Jason's jaw dropped to the floor and hung open like a goldfish in a fish tank. "Wha………..I…………you………..when did all of this happen?" he asked.

"Today" Kira said, readjusting Austin so he could get better access to the bottle. "That's why I'm home so early. I got kicked out this morning and my teacher advised me to come home and cool off."

"Your teacher?" Jason asked.

"Close personal friend" Kira explained. "Almost like a mentor"

'Oh"

He sighed this time, watching his nice feed her son the bottle. Jason had to admit, things had been rocky for poor Kira, long before she was born; it was almost as if she was destined to be miserable.

His older sister Maria has had a drinking problem since way back when she was in high school. She'd sneak alcohol in her room, to school, to work, and was constantly drinking when their parents weren't home. Of course Jason was only in primary school when this happened and he was fairly young, but he was old enough to know what it did to her.

Then as she grew older, the drinking got worse. She drank at every chance she got, morning, noon and night as if alcohol was her substitute for water. Of course she leaned into marrying her own kind and to her parents discontent Maria wed Leon Ford, an Argentinean alcoholic she met at some bar. Within 10 months of their marriage, out popped Kira, Jason's niece, and although they seemed glad to have her, the drinking never stopped.

Kira's childhood was a rough one. Her parents spent almost all their life savings on alcohol so she didn't have nice toys or nice clothes. Her parents gave her what could hardly be considered a proper nutrition and she was constantly insulted and physically abused.

Kira longed for the days when she'd go to Grandma and Grandpa's house, and there she'd spend time with Maria's parents and her Uncle Jason; just a few days to escape the pain from home.

As Kira grew into her teenaged years it never got better. By this time, Jason's parents had retired to Boca Raton, Florida and he had left for the peace conference in Germany. Kira had nobody to turn to and the abuse grew worse.

By the time, Jason moved back to Angel Grove, he was already married to long time girlfriend, Katherine Hilliard, and when he went down to Reefside to see his beloved niece, her situation left him and his wife aghast.

She was treated like a slave in her own home, forced to do all the house work, and shopping, on top of her own school work and personal duties. Her parents yelled and screamed at her, called her names and struck her more than often. Kira was miserable and it seemed that there was no escape.

As much as he hated to do this to his own relatives, Jason threatened to file reports of child abuse and alcoholism on Maria and Leon, and he was determined to fight for the custody of his niece but Kira begged him not to. She worked hard to persuade him that what happens only happens sometimes and once they come down off their high, everything would be back to normal.

Foolishly Jason let it go, only to find when he returned to Reefside once again, that Kira moved out and she had a baby with her.

He had to admit, he was proud that she finally left and took matters in her own hands but the baby………….well the baby he wasn't to sure about. He didn't know if he liked the idea of an eighteen year old taking care of a youngster but after observing her for a while and watching how close she was with him, slowly Jason began to approve.

After being a ranger, he knew what it was like to have a calling that you felt as though you had to fulfill. They weren't always the most common of callings like, find a job or get married, but they were still a life duty and it was for the good of other people.

What Kira was doing was awesome. She was taking in a poor helpless infant who probably had a history similar to her own, and providing a home for him, making sure he never went through what she had to. It was just like Kira; always willing to help others in need.

So it was then that Jason and Kat decided to help her along a little and send her a little extra money every month to help her get by. She refused at first, and argued that it was wrong to take money from relatives and she could do it on her own, but this time Jason persuaded her into believing that it was ok, and he was only here to help.

But just because he and Kat were the silver lining on her dark cloud, it didn't mean that she needed the added stress. What was she going to do for school now?

Jason turned to Kira and sighed again, running a hand through his hair. Kira observed him and threw him one of her infamous coked eyebrows, tilting her head a little to analyze him further.

"Uncle Jase, you look more stressed than I am." She pointed out.

"I am" Jason said, getting up and sighing once more. "You know, you're the reason I have gray hairs. Twenty-eight years old and already I have a patch of gray."

Kira laughed, getting up to inspect his hair. "You don't have a patch of gray hairs." She said after inspection. "Only a few"

Jason chuckled now. "Look Kira, maybe I can go down to that school of yours and talk to your principal. I mean, I _know_ it's unnecessary to expel someone on the grounds that your principal did to you, but you know about the fight, you'll probably be suspended for a couple days but that's the best I can do, at least you'll be back in school."

Kira gave him a dry look. Though his plan sounded reasonable, he has yet to meet principal Randall. Once she had her mind made up that was it, there was no going back. "You really haven't met my principal have you?"

Jason gave her one of his own cocked eyebrows. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"I mean, once she makes up her mind, that's it. There's no point in arguing. I'm telling you that woman is a witch"

"Well then, I'll talk to the school board, we'll tell them what's going on and we'll……………."

Kira raised her hand to gently silence him and now it was her turn to sigh. "Uncle Jase, believe me when I say I really appreciate what you're doing for me, I appreciate everything you do for me but, I think it's best if I just stay out of school."

"What?!" he exclaimed. "What do you mean stay out of school!"

Austin stirred for a bit in Kira's arms; unhappy the sudden noise disturbed him from his bottle-feeding and approach to dreamland. Kira raised a harsh finger to her lips, silencing Jason and causing him to cringe for disturbing the baby.

"Sorry" he mouthed.

"Look, the thing is, it's not like I'm not angry for getting kicked out of school, I am but, maybe it'll be best if I just finish out the term by mail."

"How?"

"Well think about it. I'm always having trouble finding baby sitters who can watch over him for as long as they do, I'm swamped with work and homework, and I hardly get to spend time with my son. If I take classes by mail, I can do my work from home and watch over Austin during the day, then I can work at night. I'll have more free time to spend with him on the weekdays and on the weekends and I can take a little time to relax you know? Away from all the rumors and gossip and stress. Just me and Austin"

Jason nodded slightly, taking this into consideration. She did have a point here but he still wasn't sure if he liked the idea of her giving up the fight. If she had withdrawaled from school to finish by mail that would be different than getting expelled and accepting the punishment.

"Look I know you're not happy with me not fighting about the reason for which I got expelled."

"_Damn she could read me like a book"_ Jason thought.

"But trust me, it's a blessing in disguise. This is what's best"

Jason looked at her and gave her a small smile, putting his arm around her in a small hug. He knew his niece was a smart girl; perfectly capable of handling things on her own, he didn't know why he worried so much.

"Alright then" he said. "But as long as you're sure."

"I am." She said. "For now at least. Just wait until Dr. Oliver hears about this, he'll have a heart attack."

"Dr. Oliver?"

"Oh ya, remember that teacher like mentor I was telling you about? That's him" she said, removing the bottle from Austin's mouth, who was finally asleep, and walking into the kitchen to set it in the sink.

Jason pondered to himself as she did this. "_Oliver, Oliver, Oliver, isn't that Tommy's last name? No it couldn't be. It can't be the same guy, I mean the day Tommy starts teaching let me be struck by lightning."_ Jason thought. Andas odd and convenient as it was, a clap of thunder was heard outside, followed by a bolt of lightning.

Kira peaked out the window, to see storm clouds beginning to build up in the area. "Hmm" she said. "Looks like it's going to rain"

Jason quickly clutched his cross hanging around his neck and said a silent prayer, kissing the pendant on his chain. "_God, I totally take that back"_ he prayed before following Kira into the baby's room, where she set Austin down in his crib.

"Uhh Kira" he whispered, careful not to wake the baby. "This guy Oliver, what's his first name?"

She gave him her second befuddled look for the day, putting the blanket over her baby boy and exiting the room, followed by her Uncle. "I don't know" she said once she closed the door. "Travis…….Terrance……….Teddie………Tony…….."

"Tommy?" Jason asked.

"Yep, that's it." She said. Kira couldn't believe she had forgotten her own mentor's first name. If she had a dollar for every time Haley said it, she would probably be rich.

Jason was yet again stunned. "How long have you known this guy?" he asked and again Kira shot him a strange look.

"Since the beginning of the year" she replied slowly. "He's my science teacher"

_"Whoa, Tommy teaching science. I guess is **has** been awhile since we've been in contact."_

"Look Uncle Jase, not that I'm not thrilled that you're suddenly taking an interest in my personal life but, what's with the 411?"

Jason smiled. He could understand why she'd be weirded out by this. "Tommy's an old friend of mine." He replied causing her to nod her head in understanding. "We used to go to high school together, he's the one me and Kat came to visit."

"Ohhhhh" Kira replied the light suddenly clicking in her head. She didn't know why she hadn't seen this sooner, Tommy was always ranting and raving about his best friend from high school Jason, and how he was so good at martial arts. But she had never thought twice to connect it to her Uncle. And now that she thought about it, there was a picture of Tommy, Jason and a few others at some sort of picnic on Tommy's desk in the dino lair, but she never looked hard enough, to notice that it was her uncle.

"Wow, the song is true. It is a small world after all."

"Very small indeed."

"Well hey, if you want you can stick around here. If I know Dr. O, he'll stop by right after school so he should be here at about 3:25 on the dot" she said.

Jason chuckled. "Alright, just let me call Kat and let her know but in the mean time, let's rustle up some grub, I'm hungry."

Kira checked her watch to find it was a little passed noon, which meant that she herself was due for a mid-day meal. "Alright, I'll order Chinese or something."

"Cool" Jason said getting up and pulling out his cell phone. But before he got to dialing his wife's number, he stopped to look at Kira, asking her, "Are you sure you're alright?"

Kira thought about this for a moment? Was she really ok? It was a very ambiguous question but a question that made her think nonetheless. Was she ok? Was she ok with everything that's happened? Sure it wasn't the best of situations that could have happened to her, but she made light of it right?

Kira sighed looking up at her Uncle and giving him a real genuine smile, a smile she hasn't put on her face for awhile now.

"Ya" she said reassuringly. "I'm ok"

…………………………….

Review!!!


	16. Reunited

A little Secret ch 16

……………………………….

It was now about four in the afternoon and lunchtime was long gone.

Since Jason's arrival, he and his niece have already eaten lunch, caught up with each other on their lives, and Kat joined them about two hours ago after Jason had called her. She was already filled in on the 411 and she couldn't wait to see Tommy, as well as his reaction to Jason being Kira's Uncle.

But in the meanwhile, the three were having a pleasant conversation in Kira's living room while Austin (who woke up from his nap) chewed busily on his teething ring while in the arms of Kat.

It was then that a knock was heard at the door followed by a "Honey I'm home" coming from outside.

Kira rolled her eyes and got up to answer it, knowing the voice of her fellow teammate anywhere. "One minute Uncle Jase" she excused herself, making her way to the door and opening the series of locks before pulling it open.

She wasn't surprised to see Conner, Ethan, Trent and Dr. Oliver standing there waiting for her, but she was however surprised when Conner swept her up in a big bear hug and cried. "Lucy! I missed you!"

Kira chuckled a little as he set her down and she warmly invited them in. "Hello to you too guys" she said, opening the door wider to allow them access into her home.

As they stepped into the apartment, it didn't take long for them to notice the visitors Kira had over but before her teammates could ask any questions or make any introductions, Tommy had a much more urgent message he had to deliver to her before he forgot; his memory was terrible that way.

"Hey Kira, hey Jase, Hey Kat" he greeted in a rush while walking in, turning to address his protégé. "Listen Kira I talked to Principal Randall about everything and it took awhile of doing but I managed to convince her to let you………………." Tommy paused when his brain suddenly registered who it was exactly that was in Kira's apartment.

He stopped and gave her a confused look before turning to face the living room and giving Kat and Jason a look that displayed even more confusion. "Wait what………….Kat? Jase?" he asked. "Is that really you?"

Poor Tommy was lost at the moment. Even more lost than Ethan, Conner and Trent, who were wondering about the small exchange going on in front of them.

"In the flesh" Jason replied with a grin.

"Holy hell, I didn't even realize that……………..Wow! Hey guys how are you!" he said, laughing as he made his way into the living room to greet them.

Kira shook her head in shame as she watched her science teacher get reunited with his long time friends. Poor Tommy, such a smart guy yet so confused. It should be a crime to play practical jokes on the man because Kira swore sometimes his memory and his brain really wasn't in function with the rest of his body.

"Wow, man it's great to see you" Tommy exclaimed. "Same to you Kat." He added. "I can't believe it, what are you guys doing here"

"We stopped by to see you" Kat replied.

"Me?" he asked.

"Yes you bro" Jason replied. "We ran into Billy a couple weeks ago back home and you managed to come up in the conversation. We were talking about the old gang and everything and how everyone has still kept in touch except y-o-u." he explained.

Tommy blushed sheepishly. Yes it has been awhile since he's kept in touch with his old friends but that wasn't his fault, he wasn't allowed tell anyone about the projects he was working on with Mercer. And on top of that, it didn't help that he spent most of his time working on said projects on a secluded island.

"Sorry guys" he apologized. "I know it's been a while"

"It's ok man, I understand you've been busy, don't sweat it."

"Ya, the important thing is that we're here now" Kat said.

Tommy smiled; leave it up to Jason and Kat to be so optimistic. He knew he's always liked them better. "Thanks guys. So uh, how did you find out I was here?" he asked.

"Well Billy said that he ran into your mother at the gas station one day and he asked about you. She told him that you were here in Reefside and well it sort of goes on from there." Kat explained.

"Ah, my mother" Tommy grumbled to himself. Only his over caring mother would throw out his information to anyone and rant and rave about her darling baby. Although he was adopted, he was still his parent's first child and his mother was always telling people how proud she was of _her baby boy._

"Anyway," Jason continued. "I figured since I haven't seen you in forever and my niece lived down here, me and Kat might as well stop by and pay you guys a visit."

At the mention of his niece, Tommy exchanged looks between his yellow protégé and his best friend. Jason was Kira's Uncle? Tommy knew Jason had a little sister (how could he not know after the throw-up incident) but he couldn't recall him ever mentioning having any nieces or nephews before.

"You have a niece?" he asked, his confusion returning once again.

"Ya bro. She's my sisters kid"

"Jamie?"

"No" Jason proclaimed. Jamie was a good teen plus years younger than him, that sort of thing was biologically impossible. "Maria, my older sister"

"You have an older sister?" Tommy asked.

Now Jason shook his head rolling his eyes. He could have sworn Tommy had met his older sister before. "Well obviously Tommy" he said.

"Hmm" Tommy replied, absorbing in all the information. "Hey Kira, how come you never told me Jason was your Uncle?" he asked.

Kira sighed. "Well sorry. I had no idea you knew him." She said. "But don't worry I've learned my lesson. Next time I meet someone new I'll just hand them a copy of my family tree."

Tommy glared and Kira grinned.

"Anyway," he said, beginning to change subjects and turning to his other three protégés. "Guys I want you to meet Jason and Kat, two very good friends of mine from high school and two former rangers." He knew that his students have heard him going on and on about his best friends from high school and he thought it was important for the teens to finally meet them. Especially since they were all rangers, it would make for an interesting visit.

The reactions in the room however were priceless; Ethan and Trent looked awfully stunned for being in the presence of a legacy, Conner squealed with joy, Kat and Jason looked a little apprehensive about Tommy letting them know they were rangers and Kira nearly chocked on her own air.

Her Uncle and Aunt were rangers! No freaking way! It really was a small world after all. As a matter of fact, the world was freaking tiny. Honestly, what were the possibilities that two people in the same family would become rangers? The statistics were endless!

She couldn't believe it, her Uncle Jason, a ranger. It all made sense now. His nobility, honest nature, kindness, willingness to help, unbelievable skill in martial arts and his subconscious nature to constantly wear red; all these were signs of a ranger. Once again she couldn't believe that she hadn't thought of it before.

"Tommy" Kat but in. "I'm not to sure that they're supposed to know that we were—"

"No it's alright Kat" Tommy reassured. "They're rangers to; they're all my protégés." He replied.

Now it was Jason's turn to almost choke on his own air. "Protégé?" he asked and Tommy nodded. "You mean you……………and them……………and………Kira?" he asked and he nodded again.

Both Jason and Kira turned to each other, asking in unison. "Why didn't you tell me you were a ranger?! No I asked first! C'mon! I wasn't allowed to tell!"

Tommy chuckled a bit as he watched the exchanged and Austin, who was still in Kat's arms, laughed as he shook his teething ring in the air. He didn't know what was going on but it looked funny and it seemed like a situation to laugh.

"Whoa, I don't believe this" Jason said. "My niece is a ranger?" he asked.

"I don't believe my Uncle was a ranger." She said. "Dr. O, how come you never told me!"

"Oh I'm sorry I've learned my lesson. Next time I meet someone new, I'll hand them a copy of the ranger history." He said while grinning and Kira glared.

"Hahahaha, very funny" she said.

"Man I can't believe I didn't see the signs before. The kindness, loyalty, willing to help, sudden interest for martial arts, subconscious nature for yellow" Jason pointed out. "I can't believe I didn't notice it."

"Me either" Kira said.

"Aw it's cute don't ya think?" Kat asked. "A little family of rangers. Next thing you know, this little one will be in line" she added, snuggling little Austin closer to her.

The room laughed.

…………………………..

So once the hype of being a ranger calmed down, the group got a chance to really relax and take it easy. (Other than Conner's persistent questions for Jason on the life of a red ranger) Jason, Tommy, and Kat were having a ball chatting about the good ol' days compared to where they were now and, Conner, Ethan, Trent and Kira were partly joining in on the conversation and partly chatting/ doing homework amongst themselves, and little baby Austin was happily playing with his Auntie Kat who just couldn't let go of him.

Kira had to admit, it was good being together like this. Away from the stress of the world and in her own little space with the people she cared for most. From what had happened earlier that day she never would have figured that her day would turn out like this and she was glad it did. For once she could just breathe.

Kira sighed in content as she watched her teacher and her relatives chat up a storm and her best friends laugh at the sitcom they were watching on tv. Yep, life was defiantly good. Finally no more secrets, no more hiding and no more stress, she could just take it easy.

It was then that Austin took the moment to interrupt with an abrupt cry.

It was sudden and grabbed the attention of everyone in the room, causing Kira to sigh once more. "_Spoke too soon"_ she thought.

Lifting the baby off her lap to inspect him for any bruises he might have gotten by accidentally hitting himself with while he was playing, Kat gave the baby a sympathetic look. "I don't know what happened." She said. "He was fine when he was playing here two seconds ago." She said.

Kira sighed checking her watch. The big hand on the twelve and the little hand on the six faced back at her proving her suspicions correct. It was six o'clock, which meant that Austin was hungry. "It's ok" she said, getting up to fix him some food. "He's just hungry that's all. He's sort of on clock work you know?"

"I'll say" Tommy agreed looking at his watch. "Six o'clock on the dot, the boy is good."

Kira chuckled, walking into the kitchen and digging around the cabinets for baby food while Kat followed with baby in hand. As she walked by though a trail of a rather unpleasant smell tagged along behind her and wafted it's way into the noses of the others.

"Yikes, baby alert" Jason said, the first to notice the foul odor.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, stinky baby!" Conner added, waving his hand furiously in front of his nose to try and dodge the smell.

"Oh, man that reeks" Trent added.

"Lack…….of………oxygen…………..can't……………breath!" Ethan joked, clutching his throat as if he was being chocked.

The men in the room laughed while Kira shook her head in dismay and Kat playful glared. "You guys cut it out, he's a baby, he doesn't know any better" she said.

"Even if he did Kat, that smell is a killer. It's clearing my sinuses and I don't even have any." Jason said and they laughed once more.

Kira chuckled a little herself, pausing from preparing Austin's food and retrieving her baby from Kat's arms, heading to the bathroom to change his diaper. "C'mon you little goober, let's change your nappy" she cooed at him, gently swaying him to calm down his tears.

Kat sighed at her husband, once again following Kira to help her with anything she might need.

Once she was gone and the three boys got back to doing, their homework, Jason turned to his best friend.

"So…"he began. "Still a ranger huh?"

Tommy sighed nodding his head in affirmation. "Yep, still a ranger"

Now it was Jason's turn to shake his head. "Dude, you are like a living legend" he pointed out and Tommy chuckled.

"Hey, how come he gets to call you dude?" Conner interrupted; Tommy glared.

"Conner finish your homework" he said.

"Right" the red ranger replied before going back to his math homework. The last thing he wanted was to annoy his mentor and get 50 extra push-ups during their next training session.

"Anyway" Tommy began, turning back to his best friend. "I appreciate the comparison but I don't like to consider myself a legend" he said.

"What are you talking about bro, I bet that you've served the longest time in uniform out of any generation of rangers. Plus you've had like what, 5 colors now?"

"Four"

"Whatever. Point is, you're a hero man, own up to it"

Tommy sheepishly smiled. Jason was right; he probably has served the longest time in uniform and has had the most colors than any other ranger. But that didn't mean he could take all the credit. Being a ranger was a team effort, everyone was involved, so Tommy wasn't the only one responsible for his own success; his teammates were too.

"Nah, they're the heroes man" he said motioning to his three protégés on the floor, arguing over a math problem. "Even though the work my nerves a little………………no actually a lot." He said and chuckled a bit. "They're great. They're dedicated, loyal, quick learners, swift, and more cunning than I give them credit for; especially Conner. If anything I'm more of a mentor for them, you know sort of like their Zordon. I'm just on the field as more of a back up than anything else. They do all the real work."

"Awwwwww" Jason cooed. "That's beautiful man" he teased pretending to wipe a fake tear and Tommy gave him a playful punch.

"Stuff it man, I'm serious"

Now Jason laughed. "Ya, ya, I know, I know. But man, I'm still in awe. I mean I can't believe my niece is a ranger, the whole thing is mind boggling."

Tommy chuckled. "I can't believe she's been rangering all this time while taking care of a baby. Now that's mind boggling"

Jason nodded in agreement. "So uh…….when did she tell you about him?"

"About who?" Tommy asked, briefly wondering if they switched subjects and he hadn't noticed.

Jason rolled his eyes at his best friend. Sometimes Tommy's lack of memory caused him to be so clueless. "The baby" he answered as if it was plain as day.

"Oh the baby" he said, chuckling a bit. "Uh……last weekend"

Jason's eyes went as wide as saucers. "Last weekend?" he asked. It was only Tuesday, and he figured with how accustomed Tommy was to the whole idea, he had known from months ago.

"Ya well, she didn't really _tell _me. I mean, we sort of found out and then she was forced to spill the beans. Up until last weekend she was keeping it all a secret."

"Seriously?" Jason asked. He knew after talking to Kira over the phone that she was for the most part keeping a low profile about being a teen mother but after seeing her relationship with Tommy and how much trust and faith she put into him, he would have at least suspected she told him about it.

"Yep"

"Wow, must have been hard" Jason admitted. "Keeping two big secrets like that. Man, and we thought we had it bad when we were in high school"

"You're telling me" Tommy agreed. "Apparently, we had no idea"

Kira and Kat finally returned with freshly diapered, tear free Austin, interrupting the two men from their sympathy moment.

"Hey Jase are you hungry. Kira and I were just about to order some pizza." Kat asked her husband while the yellow ranger got to work on fixing Austin's supper.

"Pizza yum!" Conner interrupted again.

"I'm game" Ethan replied.

"Sounds good to me" Trent added.

Tommy threw his students a skeptical look. "Don't you three have a home to be getting back to? You know with parents, and brothers and sisters, and a warm dinner waiting on the table?" he asked.

"My parents are out of town" Ethan replied.

"My parents aren't back from work yet" Conner added.

"I got kicked out remember?" Trent asked.

Tommy's look hardened. "How convenient"

Jason chuckled before answering his wife. "Ya sure pizza sounds great"

"Alright well pizza isn't going to pay for itself so fork it over" she said while holding out her hand or his wallet.

Jason sighed. "I should have known this was too good to be true" he replied fishing in his back pocket for his wallet. Kat and Tommy laughed as he did so, Tommy also pulling out his wallet to contribute to pizza funds.

"Tell you what Jase, I'll spare you and pick up half the bill." He said.

"Well we don't even know how much it is yet"

"Should be about 80 bucks" Kat replied.

"80 bucks!" both men cried in unison.

"Alright, alright 40 sheesh" she replied while they each handed her a twenty. "Don't have a cow"

"Easy for you to say" Jason replied while putting away his wallet. "Not all of us have daddy to pay for everything"

Kat only stuck her tongue out while picking up the phone to order the food.

Meanwhile Kira made her way back into the living room, with baby and baby food in hand, handing Austin over to Jason.

"Mind holding him while I feed him?" she asked and Jason bunched up his face like a 5-year old about to be fed broccoli.

"Yes" he replied, accepting the baby anyway as Kira ignored his answer. "Don't you have a highchair for him?"

"Ya, but he doesn't like it so it's downstairs in storage."

"Well how would you normally go about this if I wasn't here to hold him?"

"I normally just put him on the sofa with that little baby supporter thingy" she explained, snapping on Austin's bib and finally giving the awaiting baby the first bite. Austin grinned as he happily gummed the mesh down, savoring the taste for a while before swallowing. Ah, there was nothing like processed peas and carrots.

"But……….." Jason asked.

"But………you and everybody else's fat but is taking up residence on my sofa so I have to make do"

"Oh I'll gladly move"

"Uncle Jase!" she whined giving Austin his second bite and Jason chuckled.

"Alright, alright, I'll hold him. Just please don't let him drip any of that………….whatever it is on my pants."

"It's peas and carrots" she said briefly inspecting the mush in the bowl.

Jase now bunched up his face in disgust. "It's no mystery why they feed that stuff to people who can't talk"

"Oh that's not true, they don't like it either, that's why they throw up" Tommy added.

"Very true, very true" Jason agreed.

Kira just rolled her eyes. "Men" she concluded.

…………………………………

Review!!!!!


End file.
